Enabling China’s Voice to Be Heard by the World: Ideas and Operations of the Chinese Communist Party’s External Propaganda System

As China becomes a more prominent international player, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has stepped up its external propaganda in a bid to promote its image as a superpower. The operations of the CCP’s external propaganda system are no longer guided by dogma; rather, these incorporate many Western theories related to “public diplomacy,” which emphasizes the role played by non-governmental actors and the use of a softer approach. However, the CCP’s understanding of the concept of public diplomacy is influenced by the “people’s diplomacy” of the Cold War period. This means that it continues to base its external propaganda on the idea of a struggle against enemies, attempting to establish an international united front with a view to boosting the CCP’s right of discourse in the international arena and weakening anti-China forces in the West.