{"id":35157,"date":"2017-10-31T06:00:58","date_gmt":"2017-10-30T19:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=35157"},"modified":"2017-10-31T07:07:44","modified_gmt":"2017-10-30T20:07:44","slug":"the-rise-of-xiplomacy-and-chinas-strategic-narrative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/the-rise-of-xiplomacy-and-chinas-strategic-narrative\/","title":{"rendered":"The rise of #Xiplomacy and China\u2019s strategic narrative"},"content":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s been nearly two months since China\u2019s official media agency Xinhua debuted #Xiplomacy<\/a> on Twitter. Xinhua, with a weighty 11 million Twitter followers, initially used the hashtag to push out a new multipart documentary series on President Xi Jinping\u2019s diplomacy (you can stream episodes 1\u20136 on Xinhua\u2019s YouTube account here<\/a>).<\/p>\n But hashtag harmony didn\u2019t last long; by mid-September it had been co-opted, filled with tweets and memes by netizens who don\u2019t share<\/a> the #Xiplomacy vision. With Twitter banned in China\u2014and on a social media network with an immediate and largely uncensored feedback loop\u2014it was always going to be difficult for Xinhua to prop up the hashtag and keep it trucking in its intended direction.<\/p>\n Social media platforms now play an incredibly important role in how states\u2014both overtly and covertly\u2014engage and attempt to influence populations overseas. China has never ranked highly in the world of digital diplomacy<\/a> but that\u2019s quickly changing.<\/p>\n Over the past two years, the Chinese government has upped the ante with a global multimedia strategy that leverages China\u2019s state-owned media outfits. The strategy is particularly heavy on animation<\/a>, music<\/a> and storytelling<\/a> (and sometimes all three!<\/a>)<\/p>\n Xinhua has developed a set of videos laying out China\u2019s vision and point of view\u2014on topics such as China\u2019s South China Sea claims<\/a>, its military power<\/a>, the One Belt, One Road<\/a> initiative and the recent 19th National Party Congress<\/a>. And those videos will be promoted across the world via different platforms and multiple video-streaming sites. It\u2019s a clever way to tell, re-tell and argue for a strategic and global narrative. And it certainly helps that many of them are fun<\/a> and easy to digest<\/a>.<\/p>\n Last month the New York Times<\/em> revealed that Facebook had helped state broadcaster CCTV set up a Facebook page for President Xi Jinping. A small but very interesting detail to emerge as Facebook continues its efforts to crack the Chinese market<\/a>. Called \u2018Xi\u2019s Visit<\/a>\u2019, the Facebook page provides almost daily updates on the president\u2019s schedule, with a particular focus on his overseas trips and his attendance at multilateral events in China. It, too, turns to animated videos<\/a> to explain China\u2019s foreign policies.<\/p>\n The geography of President Xi Jinping\u2019s followers also paints a particularly interesting picture. So who\u2019s listening?<\/p>\n