Recently, I read a very interesting Stratfor article about the link between China and the unrest in the Middle East. China has been attempting to shape its image abroad through extensive PD programs, such as the movie loop that plays in Time Square, which shows pictures of famous Chinese people. China has been attempting to portray their nation as a great nation filled with extraordinary people and emphasizing their rich culture. This has been an obvious effort to take the focus of most people off of some glaring issues that China has and the criticisms from the international community.
The article discusses how China is watching the Middle East unrest closely because they are afraid their own people will see what others are doing abroad to overthrow their dictatorial regimes, yet at the same time China has been striving to portray themselves in a positive light and not as a dictatorial, oppressive nation. I think China is worried because the Middle East unrest has shown the world what grass roots movements can do and how powerful they can be and this is threatening to the rigid government of China. It will be interesting to see if China alters its PD message and strategy in light of these events in order to bolster its image as a good and free nation. It is also interesting to see how events in one nation affect the PD of another nation and how world events just tend to domino nowadays.
After watching this video about how China promotes their nation in the Time Square the only thought that came to my mind was forced and not very effective propaganda. Obviously China is trying to promote their nation in the best way they can. However, not only they would like to be seen as powerful and great country with fascinating history and culture but also as fully democratic state. As of, we could agree to the first statement but it is hard to believe in the “fully democratic” part, especially if it comes to human right and freedoms. Therefore, it is not very surprising for me that China is scared of the events that are going on in the Middle East. There is a reason for those upraising and protest in those countries. The most common reason is violation of basic human rights as election. Analyzing the situation and China's behavior it is clear that Chine is not a fully democratic country and it is afraid of the media showing the events from the Middle East because they are totally aware that their countries governance could cause the same consequences. The only upsetting part of this situation is that China is still trying to force their country’s democratic image on the West.
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