The Dragon Offers Olive Branches ana Swords

摘要

From the perspective of the Chinese government, the COVID-19 crisis has been a disaster for its foreign policy objectives. China's international messaging has been based on its status as a global power, its consistently growing economy, its high technology and on managing the perception that the future belongs to China, hence the 'sensible thing to do' is to come to terms with Chinese pre-eminence. However, it is very difficult to sustain a message based on such future pre-eminence if you have just unleashed a devastating pandemic on the world at large! Domestically, the leadership in Beijing has used the coercive power of the surveillance state to deal with the crisis and to demonstrate that it was in control, was solving the problems and that its authority, legitimacy and power remained undiminished. To reinforce that, it created a narrative of events for the domestic audience that showed the leadership in a favourable light and placed the blame for the virus on external forces, such as the US. Internationally, Chinese messaging has sought to portray the nation as a responsible global power, whose organisational and problem-solving abilities have allowed it to beat the virus. Thus, China becomes a model for emulation. China is now aggressively using soft power and public diplomacy tools to repair and enhance its image.