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International relations
Reference:

Tools and Mechanisms for the Implementation of Chinese Cultural Diplomacy towards Russian Federation

Yan Tszye

Postgraduate, Department of International Relations, St. Petersburg State University

191060, Russia, Saint Petersburg, str, Smolny str., 1/3.

ziye657579889@gmail.com

DOI:

10.7256/2454-0641.2023.1.40069

EDN:

CCTWZM

Received:

25-03-2023


Published:

01-04-2023


Abstract: The article is devoted to the identification and characterization of the main tools and mechanisms for the implementation of Chinese cultural diplomacy in relation to the Russian Federation. The author proceeds from the fact that in the context of the new international situation and a new stage in the development of Sino-Russian relations, the maintenance and intensification of cultural exchanges between the two countries plays an important role. The article emphasizes that the means by which China conducts cultural diplomacy in Russia differ in ways and mechanisms depending on the sphere. It is shown that China's cultural diplomacy in Russia has achieved more significant results mainly in the field of education, literature, artistic cooperation and exchange between the media. Strategic, fateful decisions taken by the top political leadership of the two countries aimed at uniting the two states should be understood and accepted by the population of these countries, which is impossible without a deep mutual understanding of cultural heritage and cultural features. In the article, the author gives numerous examples demonstrating the variety of tools and mechanisms used by Beijing to implement cultural diplomacy in relation to Russia. The author concludes that China uses cultural diplomacy as a means of spreading its culture in Russia, effectively presenting the image of modern China. Cooperation between China and Russia in the field of culture is of great strategic importance for the development of relations between the two countries.


Keywords:

Sino-Russian relations, cultural diplomacy, China, Russia, cultural exchanges, educational cooperation, cultural relations, MASS MEDIA, literature, external policy

This article is automatically translated.

In its interaction with foreign countries, China pays great attention to the implementation of cultural diplomacy and the development of cultural exchanges as allowing to create a favorable environment and an atmosphere of trust, understanding and respect, so necessary for successful interstate cooperation. After the normalization of bilateral relations with Russia in the 1980s, when building relations with Moscow, Beijing began to pay great attention to the development of cultural and humanitarian contacts. After Beijing adopted the concept of "soft cultural power" in 2004, China's efforts in this direction intensified.

The main means and mechanisms of China's cultural diplomacy towards Russia include the following. Firstly, China pays great attention to teaching Chinese in Russia and joint educational projects. Confucius Institutes have been established in many Russian universities. Having founded the first Confucius Institute in 2006 at the Far Eastern Federal University, by the end of 2022 China had opened a total of 19 Confucius institutes and 4 Confucius classes in Russia[1]. In addition, in 2016, as part of the trilateral cooperation between the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government, Beijing Polytechnic University and Lomonosov Moscow State University, the MSU-SPI University in Shenzhen was established. This university introduces and absorbs the advanced philosophy of education, teaching content, teaching methods and disciplinary advantages of both universities for the joint management of the university, which can be considered a milestone in the history of education development in both countries, linking educational and cultural initiatives of both countries. In 2019, Chinese was officially included as a foreign language subject in the Unified State Exam in Russia, which further contributes to the rapid development of education in Chinese in Russia. Currently, Chinese language courses are taught in almost 170 primary and secondary schools in Russia, and more than 17 thousand school-age children study this language throughout the country. "There is a growing interest in learning Chinese among the Russian public," says S. F. Sanakoev, Deputy chairman of the Russian?Chinese Friendship Society[2].

Secondly, China has strengthened the exchange of talents and academic knowledge with Russia. The total number of Chinese students studying in Russia is growing, as is the number of Russian students accepted to study in China.From 1992 to 2004, China sent a total of 1,584 students to Russia on official state study trips and received 1,575 Russian students in China; China sent about 40 Chinese language teachers to Russia and hired more than 100 Russian language teachers to study in China.By the end of 2019, the number of Russian students in China increased by 36% and exceeded 20 thousand people[3]. By 2022, 32.6 thousand students of all categories were registered in the education department of the Chinese Embassy in Russia[4].

Thirdly, China pays great attention to the organization of exhibitions and scientific forums in the field of higher education together with Russia. For example, the Forum of Rectors of the Northeastern Provinces of China, the Siberian and Far Eastern Regions of the Russian Federation in 2010 brought together representatives of 25 Russian universities. In addition, a Chinese-Russian Forum on Teacher Education was held in Beijing in 2019, and an online Forum of the Chinese?Russian Alliance of Similar Universities was held in December 2022.China has trained many talented educational personnel for Russia who are fluent in the languages of both sides and are familiar with the national conditions and experience of both countries. This has made an important contribution to the development of Russia and China in the field of education and research. Educational cooperation has become the basis for material and spiritual ties between the two sides, contributing to the development of cooperation and exchanges between the two countries in the economic, scientific and cultural fields at all levels, as well as deepening the foundations of the Russian-Chinese comprehensive strategic partnership.

Fourth, Beijing pays great attention to translating its best literature into Russian, summarizing and correcting some of the problems that previously arose during translation and distribution. The translation of Chinese literature in Russia in the late 1990s was characterized by the following features. Thus, a large number of Chinese classics have been translated. In 1995, the Russian publishing house Radomir published a re-translation of The Dream in the Red Chamber by V.A. Panasyuk, in which some footnotes were removed compared to the 1958 edition, which made the book more accessible to Russian readers. A large number of contemporary Chinese literary works have also been translated and published. For example, "The Task of Three Bodies" by Liu Cixin, "Big Breasts, Wide Ass" by Mo Yan, "Live" and "Brothers" by Yu Hua, etc.[5]. In recent years, the governments of Russia and China have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on the project of mutual translation of classical and modern literary works, and the project has progressed successfully, the Russian side has published a number of works by contemporary Chinese writers. In December 2018, Russian newspapers reported that Chinese literature has a growing readership in Russia, and only the St. Petersburg publishing house "Hypelion" has published more than 10 literary works by Chinese authors over the past two years[6].

Fifth, China is paying more and more attention to cooperation with Russia in the field of painting, photography and museums. Museum cooperation between Russia and China is developing, with China actively organizing exhibitions of paintings, photographs and artifacts in Russia. In September 2001, an exhibition of paintings and photographs "Magnificent China", organized jointly by Russia and China in honor of the 52nd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, opened at the N.A. Ostrovsky Cultural Center "Integration" in Moscow. The exhibition lasted two weeks and attracted more than 3 thousand visitors[7]. In 2007, as part of the Year of China in Russia, the Association of Chinese Artists and the St. Petersburg State Academy of Fine Arts organized an exhibition of works of contemporary Chinese art.In 2016, the Central Exhibition Hall of Artists in the Russian capital hosted the exhibition of Chinese painting and calligraphy "Ink Focus ? 2016 in Russia". Such exhibitions allow an increasing number of Russians to see Chinese painting and thereby get to know China better.

In June 2018, within the framework of the Chinese initiative "One Belt, One Road", the International Alliance of Silk Road Art Museums was established, promoted by the National Art Museum of China. National art museums and key art institutions from 18 countries and regions participating in the "One Belt, One Road" project, including the Russian National Academy of Arts, participated in the alliance, opening an important channel for artistic exchanges between countries. Russia is China's main partner in this project, so cooperation in the cultural sphere is gradually expanding. The 2018 exhibition "Treasures of the Ming Dynasty Art from the Shanghai Museum", which opened at the Kremlin State Museum, included 156 exhibits of the Chinese Ming Dynasty and was well received by Russian visitors. In 2022, the Russian State Museum of the East hosted a series of events dedicated to Chinese culture, including an exhibition of porcelain artifacts and an exhibition of Chinese terracotta warriors and horses, terracotta statues of warriors and war horses.In 2023, the museum also plans to hold two thematic events dedicated to China, namely: the thematic exhibition "Chinese New Year" in February and the exhibition "Club of Lovers of Chinese Brush Painting" in September[8]. Such events, which increasingly show people's lives, allow residents of Russia and China to learn more about each other's cultures. As a traditional tool of Chinese cultural diplomacy in Russia, international museum exchanges play an active role in relations between the two countries.

Sixth, with the continuous development of technology and the emergence of new media as an important factor of influence on society, China has begun to pay attention to the development of cooperation between the new media of the two countries. As part of the Year of Russia in China in 2007, China International Radio and TASS jointly organized the event "Friendship of Russia and China ? a Tour of China", during which journalists from 12 Russian and 4 Chinese media visited 15 provinces and cities of China, filming and covering local culture and customs[9]. In 2017, China International Radio and the international news agency "Russia Today" jointly launched a bilingual mobile client application "Russia-China: the Main thing". Currently, Russia-China: The Main Thing has become an open, portable and multifunctional two-way platform with a high level of public awareness in both countries.

In addition to the coverage of major international events in Russia and China and the daily dissemination of news about China in the Russian media, the broadcast of Chinese films and TV shows in the Russian media also contributed to the spread of Chinese culture. As of 2017, at least 33 recently filmed Chinese films have been shown in Russia. In 2022, 6 films with Chinese participation were shown in Russia, while only three of them were shot without the participation of the United States. In the first half of 2022, 32.3 billion rubles were spent on films with Chinese participation, which is slightly more than 2.2% of the total film collections[10]. From the point of view of distribution, the Chinese film festival in Russia has become an important means of popularizing Chinese cinema and television in Russia, as well as a "window" through which Russians can learn about China. The Chinese film festival "Meeting with Russia" was held in Moscow from January 23 to 28, 2023. The festival showed several films that received high box office receipts and critical acclaim in China, such as the fantasy thriller "Wandering Earth", the drama "Me and My Homeland", the animated film "Nezha", the action thriller "Over the Cliff" and the documentary "The Moon is in Your Hands"[11].

In general, the tools and mechanisms by which China conducts cultural diplomacy towards Russia vary depending on the scope of their application. In the field of education, China pays more attention to teaching Chinese in Russia and joint educational projects. This makes it possible for an increasing number of Russians who have not studied Chinese to get acquainted with Chinese culture. In addition, China has also strengthened humanitarian and academic exchanges in Russia.In the field of literature, China pays more attention to translating Chinese literature into Russian, not only by re-translating some classical works already translated and published in Soviet times to make them more accessible and understandable, but also by increasing the number of translations and publications of modern literature on various topics to make different styles of writers and diverse Chinese culture accessible to the Russian people. In the field of art, museum cooperation between Russia and China is growing, with China actively organizing exhibitions of paintings, photographs and artifacts in Russia. China uses cultural diplomacy as a way to convey the history of its country in paintings, photographs and historical relics, which is an effective way to demonstrate the "soft cultural power" of the country. New media are an important means of presenting the country's culture. Using new media to develop cultural diplomacy in Russia, China uses the possibilities of technology and the Internet to help Russians get a more intuitive and complete understanding of Chinese customs and culture.

China uses cultural diplomacy as a means of spreading its culture in Russia, effectively presenting the image of modern China and bringing the Russian and Chinese peoples closer together. Cooperation between China and Russia in the field of culture is of great strategic importance for the development of relations between the two countries.

References
1. About Confucius Institute /URL://https://ci.urfu.ru/ru/about/(accessed 22.01.2023)
2. The demand for learning Chinese in Russia continues to grow (俄罗斯学习中文需求持续增长) /URL://https://ci.urfu.ru/ru/about/www.ccis.sdu.edu.cn/info/1002/5314.htm (accessed 22.01.2023)
3. Russia and China have reached a level of academic mobility of 100,000 people /URL://https://minobrnauki.gov.ru/press-center/news/mezhdunarodnoe-sotrudnichestvo/26080/ (accessed 23/01/2023)
4. Over the past year the number of students from China in Russian universities increased by 10% /URL://https://minobrnauki.gov.ru/press-center/news/mezhdunarodnoe-sotrudnichestvo/51810/ (accessed 23.012023)
5. Which Chinese authors do Russian readers love? (俄罗斯读者喜爱哪些中国作家作品?) /URL://https://www.163.com/dy/article/EVR7R7R50514BQ68.html (accessed 23.01.2023)
6. Difficulties of translation: what of Chinese literature is read in contemporary Russia? // The Russian newspaper, 28.12.2018
7. China's Relations with Russia (中国同俄罗斯的关系) /URL://http://wcm.fmprc.gov.cn/pub/chn/gxh/cgb/gj/oz/1206_13/sbgx/t6786.htm (accessed 28.01.2023)
8. The Russian Museum of the East will hold a series of events on the Chinese theme in 2023 /URL://https://sputniknews.cn/20230112/1047061242.html (accessed 28.01.2023)
9. Chen Hengzhe (陈恒哲). A Study of International Channels Communication with Russia after the Establishment of Reform and Openness Policy (改革开放以来国际台对俄传播研究). / Chen Hengzhe (陈恒哲). // Proceedings of Master's thesis, People's University of China, 2018, P. 31
10. Russian Film Industry: Development Plans and Import Substitution Opportunities /URL://https://delprof.ru/press-center/open-analytics/rossiyskaya-kinoindustriya-plany-razvitiya-i-vozmozhnosti-importozameshcheniya/?ysclid=lddnfe8cd0598018980 (accessed 27.01.2023)
11. Chinese Film Festival "Encounter with Russia" /URL://https://www.kp.ru/afisha/msk/festivali/festival-kitajskogo-kino-vstrecha-s-rossiej-v-moskve/?ysclid=le1qik6rsj863253652 (accessed 27.01.2023)

Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The subject of the peer-reviewed study is the specifics of Chinese cultural diplomacy in Russia. Given the observed crisis in Russia's relations with Western countries, as well as the consequence of this crisis – the "turn to the East" and, accordingly, the intensification of relations with China, it should be recognized that the relevance of the research topic chosen by the author will only grow in the coming years. Unfortunately, the peer-reviewed work does not say anything about the methodology that was used in the research process. However, from the context, it can be understood that in addition to the usual general scientific analytical methods, elements of an institutional approach were used (when analyzing specific mechanisms of Chinese cultural diplomacy), as well as content analysis (when studying the content aspects of Chinese cultural products promoted by the Chinese government in Russia). The correct application of these methods allowed the author to obtain results with signs of scientific novelty. First of all, it is necessary to recognize some innovation in the very formulation of the problem: in the author's desire to study the mechanisms of the "soft power" of the PRC on the example of cultural, scientific and educational forms of exchange with Russia. In this regard, the author's general conclusion is of scientific interest that China uses cultural diplomacy as a means of promoting its vision of the world, its culture and history. The author's conclusion is also interesting that cultural diplomacy contributes to the rapprochement of the two peoples – Chinese and Russian, as well as the greater strength of cultural ties, compared with political ones. Finally, it is interesting to analyze the specific tools of China's cultural influence that it uses to promote its worldview in Russia. Structurally, the work also does not cause rejection: despite the lack of rubrication, the logic of the text is consistent and reflects the main aspects of the study, consistently revealing the key tools for promoting Chinese culture in Russia. The style of work should also be recognized as scientific, although far from ideal: it feels that Russian is not the author's native language. Stylistic problems begin with the title of the article, which sounds very ambiguous: the mechanisms of implementation of Chinese cultural diplomacy ... on the example of the Russian Federation. It turns out that the Russian Federation implements Chinese diplomacy? Or (most likely) is the Russian Federation the object of China's diplomatic process? Then this is how it should be formulated: "Tools and mechanisms for the implementation of Chinese cultural diplomacy in the Russian Federation." There are other stylistic ones in the text (for example, in the first sentence we see an unsuccessful stylistic decision: "... The development of cultural exchanges as allowing to create a favorable environment ..."; another example: "... The university implements and absorbs the advanced philosophy of education ..."; or unnecessary repetition: "... To consider a milestone in the history of the development of education in both countries linking educational and cultural initiatives of both countries"; or the erroneous sequence translator-title-author, when from the point of view of the norms of the Russian language, the translator turns out to be the author: "translation of "Dream in the Red Chamber" by V.A. Panasyuk" (it would be correct to "translation by V.A. Panasyuk of the work "Dream in the Red Chamber""); or a strange logical sequence "... Cooperation with Russia in the field of painting, photography and museums"; another example of a sequence strange from the point of view of the logic of the Russian language: "exhibitions of paintings, photographs and artifacts"; there are repetitions of the same in meaning, but different in form expressions, for example: "exhibition of Chinese terracotta warriors and horses, terracotta statues of warriors and war horses"; in addition, the text very often contains the absence of spaces between sentences and/or individual words; etc.) and grammatical (for example, the first sentence is not agreed upon: "... China pays great attention to the implementation of cultural diplomacy ..."; another example of the absence of coordination: "Educational cooperation has become the basis for material and spiritual ties [mn. ch. – rec.] between two parties contributing to... [unit ch. – rec.]"; or the missing word in the sentence "It made an important contribution to the development of [what? – Rec.] of Russia and China in the field of education and scientific research"; etc.) errors, but in general it is written more or less competently, in an acceptable scientific language, with the correct use of scientific terminology. The bibliography includes 11 titles and sufficiently reflects the state of research on the subject of the article. There is no appeal to opponents due to the lack of theoretical and methodological reflection. GENERAL CONCLUSION: the article proposed for review can be qualified as a scientific work that meets the basic requirements for works of this kind. The results obtained by the author correspond to the subject of the journal "International Relations" and are of interest to political scientists, cultural scientists, specialists in the field of public administration, world politics and international relations, as well as to students of the listed specialties. Based on the results of the review, the article can be recommended for publication AFTER eliminating the following comments: - it is necessary to eliminate ambiguity in the title of the article; - it is necessary to carefully proofread the entire text in order to eliminate stylistic and grammatical errors; - the introduction should describe and argue the methodological choice, purpose and objectives of the study.