ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book investigates Confucius Institutes (CIs) and their role in China's public diplomacy, which will be the foundation for a thorough empirically based analysis of CIs by investigating their inner workings in a comparative manner. The main activities of CIs include language courses for various levels, the support for local Chinese teaching internationally and a wide range of cultural events such as exhibitions, screenings and various talks. It looks at mechanisms that states apply to communicate with and present themselves to the world. The focus is on the concept of public diplomacy that is increasingly central to contemporary international relations. The book outlines the bilateral relations between China and Australia/Germany and illustrates how CIs are perceived in both countries. The deconstruction of the Western understanding of these concepts is necessary to work out differences and similarities between the Western and the Chinese conceptual understanding.