ABSTRACT
This chapter examines China’s use of soft/sharp power in international relations. It describes its application through the manipulation and cooptation of the mediums of the global mass media, Confucius Institutes, academic and industrial exchanges, and ethnic or overseas Chinese. It examines the question of how China funds, controls and uses these vehicles to advance its ‘sharp power’, and concludes by assessing the operation of the concept with reference to financial opportunities, self-censorship, contest for influence and foreign reactions.
