ABSTRACT
This chapter approaches the Chinese understanding of public diplomacy by discussing the purposes of China's public diplomacy, the role of actors and the question of audiences. It also discusses the relation between public diplomacy and soft power, and then elaborates on the role of culture and cultural diplomacy, and then turns to the relationship between public diplomacy and propaganda and psychological warfare. Chinese scholarship discusses the relation between public diplomacy and propaganda similarly to non-Chinese debates in a way that distinguishes, mainly because China knows about the Western problems with the very term which one scholar describes as the West's 'propaganda phobia'. The chapter concludes by outlining what Chinese scholars understand as the most important challenges for China's public diplomacy. Similar to public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy is also seen as a form of diplomacy which can enhance a country's 'international status' and 'international influence'; it can create a Harmonious World; and it can contribute to the development of 'cultural diversity'.
