The China Public Diplomacy Dashboard is an interactive dashboard that visualises China’s
diplomatic outreach in Asia from 2000 to 2017. The dashboard covers hallmark Chinese initiatives
like Confucius Institutes and Sister City Agreements, while also displaying traditional engagements
like government visits, military visits and student exchanges. Together, they constitute the
majority of Beijing’s diplomatic outreach over nearly two decades.
The purpose of visualizing this data is to identify for China Watchers the geographic focus of public
diplomacy efforts by Beijing. Different instruments of diplomatic outreach – such as the ones
identified here – have been deployed in different geographies in a bid to fulfil Chinese
goals. Instruments such as Confucius Institutes, Sister City Agreements, Military and
Government visits and inbound-outbound student exchanges show us the image Beijing likes to project
in specific geographies.
The data covers countries in Asia from 2000 to 2017 and tracks five specific indicators of public
diplomacy.
The Public Diplomacy dashboard can be navigated by selecting the country on the map, to filter the
two charts. The map shows the total number of Confucius institutes (color) and total number of
sister city agreements (circles) for countries in Asia from 2000 to 2017. You can select the
particular year for these indicators using the year dropdown menu.
The graphs below the map
show the number of inbound and outbound students on the left and the number of government and
military visits on the right.
To see these indicators for a particular country, select that country in the map above and the graphs
below will show the values for the country selected. To see the values for a group of countries,
hold down ctrl and click on the countries in the map you want to see the values for (ctrl + mouse
click/ command + mouse click).
Some countries do not have data for particular years and the graphs will be empty/blank when this is
the case.
Confucius Institutes: Confucius Institutes are non-profit, government-run
institutions set up to promote Chinese language and culture. The institutions are run by the Chinese
International Education Foundation, in partnership with local universities with the intention to
promote linkages with Chinese businesses.
Sister Cities: Sister city partnerships are agreements signed by local
government leaders from two countries to engage in exchange activities in multiple fields. This
indicator shows the total number of sister city/friendship agreements between cities and provinces
in China and a partner country.
Government Visits: The number of high-level and provincial level visits by
government officials between China and the receiving country, per year. These visits took place in
China, the receiving country or a third location.
Military Visits: The number of high-level and provincial level visits by
military officials between China and the receiving country per year. The visits took place in China,
the receiving country or a third location.
Outbound Chinese Students: The number of Chinese students studying in the
country per year.
Inbound Students to China: The number of international students from a country
studying in China
Countries in China’s periphery, especially Japan, South Korea and Australia have been the focus
of Beijing’s public diplomacy. Japan, South Korea and Australia have the highest number of
Sister City Agreements with China and also have the highest number of Confucius Institutes. These
countries also figure prominently in terms of student exchanges with China. One of the core
deductions from this assessment Is that China’s focus is on advanced industrial economies
—Japan, South Korea and Australia — wherein Beijing is keen on maintaining strong
economic clout. Also, they are increasingly and closely linked to the US’ Indo-Pacific
outreach, with all three being US alliance partners.
China has also engaged in public diplomacy efforts South-East Asia as well, with countries like
Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines and Malaysia figuring prominently in terms of Sister Cities and
Confucius Institutes. South-East Asia is followed by Central Asia and South Asia in terms of the
geographic focus of public diplomacy efforts.
South Asia has witnessed a limited, but not insignificant, amount of public diplomacy initiatives
from China. India had the highest number of Confucius Institutes and Sister City Agreements,
compared to other South Asian countries.
A detailed report on the dashboard and its finding
will also be available soon.