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Communicating China to the World: Confucius Institutes and China's Strategic Narratives

This article analyses the strategies, goals and impact of the Confucius Institutes (CIs). It examines CIs as an important tool in China's public diplomacy, employed by its government to communicate specific strategic narratives about China to foreign publics, and, in so doing, increase China's soft power. Based on empirical data from CIs in different parts of the world, the article demonstrates that the impact of CIs is hampered both by political/ideological concerns and by a number of practical issues. It is argued that CIs do not present the ‘real’ China to the world, but rather a ‘correct version’ of it, which in turn limits their ability to project China's strategic narratives effectively and increase its soft power.