ABSTRACT
China has reconstructed the traditional Chinese world order in its efforts to project soft power in relations with its Asian neighbors. Claiming that China’s rise is peaceful, Chinese leaders and scholars have evoked China’s past as a peaceful nation to project a benevolent governance and benign hierarchy of a China-centered East Asian order that is purportedly unique and more peaceful than its Western counterparts. The reconstruction together with other efforts and investments and extensive branding campaign, China has improved its soft power capacity especially after President Donald Trump came to office in the United States. But China’s efforts to project soft power often fail to resonate abroad partly because China displays little empathy with the sensitivities of those living beyond its borders.
