ABSTRACT
At 8 p.m. on August 8, 2008, the world’s attention and numerous flashlights were focused on the “Bird Nest” stadium in Beijing. More than 80 national leaders gathered in Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, including US President George W. Bush, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Tomita and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. This created a new historical record for the number of national leaders attending the Olympic opening ceremony. It showed the respect that the leaders of many countries have not only for the Olympic spirit, but also for Beijing and even for China. Meanwhile, the world witnessed the successful practice of China’s “harmonious world” concept. Recently, the US Magazine Times published a list of the “World’s Most Influential People” in 2008, and the Chinese President Hu Jintao was again on the list. Furthermore, the Hamburg-based fashion magazine Park Avenue announced its list of the “World’s 100 Most Influential People”, which also included President Hu Jintao. The rise of China makes the world proud of it, and the growing trend has been irresistible. Even some Western strategists have to admit that the rise of China, as a great power, is the most definite trend in the international relations of the 21st century. With global “China fever” blooming, Confucius Institutes, the carriers of Chinese culture, are springing up widely around the world. In just two years from the end of 2004, when the first Confucius Institute was formally opened in South Korea, more than 140 Confucius Institutes were established in 50 countries and regions. At the same time, “China Week”, “China Festival” and new “Chinatown” are also held in all parts of the world. In the United Kingdom, it is said that the word “China” appears in the media so often that it is second only to the word “British”. It has been reported that there is a piece of news about China in the world every eight minutes. There is no exaggeration in saying that China has seized the world’s attention, and that “China fever” is booming all over the world.
