Cultural Features of China Today - Research Paper Example

The people of China have been heavily influenced by these changes in China. This paper discusses some of those changes that signify the contemporary Chinese culture and society and discusses their impact on the people of China. One of the most remarkable changes the world politics has seen in the start of the 21st century is China’s rise of power. The culture of China today serves as a resource for soft power whose use has helped China surface as a powerful country in the world. “THE SOFT POWER OF A COUNTRY RESTS PRIMARILY ON THREE RESOURCES: ITS CULTURE (IN PLACES WHERE IT IS ATTRACTIVE TO OTHERS), ITS POLITICAL VALUES (WHEN IT LIVES UP TO THEM AT HOME AND ABROAD), AND ITS FOREIGN POLICIES (WHEN THEY ARE SEEN AT LEGITIMATE AND HAVING MORAL AUTHORITY)” (Nye and Jisi 25).

One of the most important outcomes of the rise of China’s soft power that has affected the lives of the people of China is growth of multiculturalism. Chinese students are studying with foreigners in their own universities and colleges, and the streets and beautiful places of China have attracted the attention of tourists from all over the world. Overall, the exposure of Chinese people to the global scenario and foreign cultures has increased manifolds. This has helped the Chinese people easily integrate into foreign cultures and reap the benefits of studying and working in advanced countries.

“WHILE THE VOICE OF AMERICA WAS CUTTING ITS CHINESE BROADCASTS FROM NINETEEN TO FOURTEEN HOURS A DAY, CHINA RADIO INTERNATIONAL WAS INCREASING ITS BROADCASTS IN ENGLISH TO TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY” (Nye and Jisi 26). The importance of soft power in China can be estimated from the fact that it has entered the official language of China. Hu Jintao, in the speech that he made at the Communist Party of China’s (CPC) 17th National Congress, emphasized upon a need for the CPC to “ENHANCE CULTURE AS PART OF THE SOFT POWER OF OUR COUNTRY TO BETTER GUARANTEE THE PEOPLE’S BASIC CULTURAL RIGHTS AND INTERESTS” (Jintao cited in Nye and Jisi 28).

He recognized culture as a very important source of innovation and national cohesion whose significance in China’s strength has grown over the decades. Public diplomacy as a cultural trait has developed in China comprehensively and systematically. A major example of this is the cultural-cum-language center of China, the Confucius Institute that has been designed and established to increase the drive for learning the national Chinese language that has rapidly spread in the recent years all over the world.

Similarly, “IN 2004, CHINA ESTABLISHED THE LEADING SMALL GROUP FOR FOREIGN CHINESE LANGUAGE EDUCATION UNDER THE STATE COUNCIL, WHOSE OBJECTIVE WAS TO ESTABLISH 100 CONFUCIUS INSTITUTES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD” (Cho and Jeong 471). Such measures have facilitated the people of China a lot. Wherever they go in the world, they get to meet people who understand their language and can communicate with them in their native Chinese language. This has helped the people of China overcome the effects of their deficiency of competence in the English language.

“NOW, WHAT IS IN COMMON WITH NEW YORK, HAWAII, KANSAS, CALIFORNIA, MEXICO, FRANCE, SERBIA, SOUTH KOREA, EGYPT, AUSTRALIA, RUSSIA, AND RWANDA? ALMOST NOTHING, EXCEPT THAT THEY NOW HOST THE CONFUCIUS INSTITUTE, A LANGUAGE AND CULTURE CENTER MASSIVELY PRODUCED BY THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT AS ONE OF ITS LARGE-SCALE CHARM OFFENSIVES TO ENHANCE ITS SOFT POWER” (“Background Information”). Establishment of these institutes has helped the government of China strengthen the Chinese language as well as soft power.

Concluding, two of the most important features of the contemporary culture of China include the increased use and