Dr. Zhao Alexandre Huang is an Associate Professor of Communication at the Université Paris Nanterre (Paris 10). He works for the DICEN-IDF laboratory. He studies institutional practices, political and public communication strategies, and the formation of strategic narratives in the practice of public diplomacy. His research interests include public diplomacy, strategic communication, public relations, social media and China’s propaganda and international communication.
Les Enjeux de l’information et de la communication, 2021
Choix prioritaire des touristes chinois voyageant en France, le Louvre a lancé le 1er mai 2015 un... more Choix prioritaire des touristes chinois voyageant en France, le Louvre a lancé le 1er mai 2015 un projet numérique ciblant le média social chinois Weibo, destiné à promouvoir la culture et les valeurs françaises et à consolider sa présence et sa communication dans le monde sinophone. Son compte Weibo est devenu, depuis 2016, l’un des comptes mu- séaux étrangers les plus influents de l’internet chinois. À partir d’une démarche netno- graphique, nous avons observé l’ensemble des posts émis par le musée du Louvre tout au long de l’année 2019 (N=352) sur Weibo afin d’étudier, à travers le prisme de la diplomatie publique numérique, les stratégies communicationnelles du Louvre sur le net chinois et de comprendre en quoi le musée participait au rayonnement du soft power français en Chine.
Public Diplomacy and the Politics of Uncertainty, 2021
As one of Beijing’s people-to-people diplomacy flagships, Confucius Institute (CI) has been accus... more As one of Beijing’s people-to-people diplomacy flagships, Confucius Institute (CI) has been accused by some Western governments of overloading educational content with ideological positions and political values, disrespecting academic freedoms, and engaging in espionage. However, in Africa, CI initiatives are currently met with applause. As an actor exercising soft power in China-Africa relations, CI allows Beijing to legitimise its geo-political presence as well as industrial and commercial interests, while advancing China’s reputation among foreign publics. Using relationship management as an analytical lens, this chapter examines how CI in Kenya facilitates public diplomacy in addressing uncertainties associated with the rise of China as a global power. Considering the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s diplomatic principles of building China-Africa communities with a shared future, first, the chapter focuses on Chinese foreign policy and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which enables Beijing to implement a legitimization strategy based on the developing CI “policy network” in Africa. Second, cooperative and interdependent relationships between organisational actors within and around CI facilitate the implementation of China’s public diplomacy in Africa and advance CI’s reputation as an open overseas cultural institution. Third, beyond its pedagogic and cultural missions, CI is a significant but subtle spokesperson for Beijing. Through its local branches, trained professionals participate in a long-term strategy of influence, based on affective engagement and storytelling. They engage local students in numerous group activities that aim to build cultural bonds with them.
This study of the U.S.–China trade war investigated how Beijing (a) uses institutional discourse ... more This study of the U.S.–China trade war investigated how Beijing (a) uses institutional discourse and rhetoric to conceptualize digital public diplomacy based on the autocratic system of the Communist Party of China and (b) legitimizes its highly centralized and politicized international communication practices. We also investigated how China’s domestic public diplomacy practices affect its international communication. Comparing the online activities of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs domestically (i.e., Weibo) and internationally (i.e., Twitter) revealed (a) that China first centralizes and politicizes communication content production and distribution to ensure that all messages follow the desired political direction and promote the desired value orientation; and (b) that, although inspired by the network communication perspective, Beijing’s digital public diplomacy emphasizes advocacy and narrative, ignores listening and exchange, and does not seek mutual cross-cultural adaptation. Digital public diplomacy is an instrument that serves China’s internal affairs, controlling and guiding domestic public opinion online to defend Communist Party of China leadership.
Revue MTO. Management des technologies organisationnelles, 2019
Grâce à des entretiens semi-directifs avec les diplomates / les professionnels en communication m... more Grâce à des entretiens semi-directifs avec les diplomates / les professionnels en communication muséale et l’analyse netnographique des posts de Weibo publiés par les musées français entre 2016 et 2017, cet article appréhende, d’un point de vue théorique, les mutations de la communication stratégique et de la diplomatie culturelle française à l’ère digitale. Pourquoi et en quoi les musées français lancent-ils les projets communicationnels dans les médias sociaux chinois ? Dans quelle mesure les stratégies de communication des musées français sur les médias sociaux chinois participent-elles conjointement à l’attractivité de ces musées auprès des publics chinois et à une forme de communication stratégique territoriale, voire de diplomatie parallèle culturelle de la France ?
Applying a constructive journalistic paradigm, we examined how the Chinese media digitalized pand... more Applying a constructive journalistic paradigm, we examined how the Chinese media digitalized panda diplomacy on Twitter. By analyzing English-language, panda-themed tweets (N = 855) posted by Chinese state-owned media (Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily, and CGTN) in 2017, we identified content types and communication engagement practices that contributed to Chinese digital diplomacy. Our findings confirm that the practice of panda engagement online is highly politicized in the context of China's public diplomacy. Chinese media outlets use Twitter (a) to spread official discourse and views in the diplomatic arena to strengthen the government's impact and (b) to accrue sympathy capital and increase attractiveness through strategic placement of imagery (e.g. static images, moving gifs, and video clips) and textual narrative.
Revue française des sciences de l’information et de la communication, 2019
This essay analyses both of Chinese and European discourses under the framework of Belt and Road ... more This essay analyses both of Chinese and European discourses under the framework of Belt and Road Initiative. It intends to compare different opinions in the context that rhetoric prevails over substance and a political project over economic gain. As one of the most important international projects designed by the Chinese president, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) combines China’s ancient Silk Road history with Beijing’s contemporary “going out, going global” strategy. It attempts to defend China multilateralism while projecting the Chinese dream. The time frame of this research is from January 2016 to April 2018. We collected BRI-themed news published in four tops European reference press and two Communist Party of China’s reference organs by using media monitors (i.e.,Factiva, Europresse, TweetDeck). Combined with the Twitter discourses analysis of Chinese media and diplomatic institutions in the same period and semi- structured interviews with Chinese-European officials, this paper analyzes in a comparative perspective the content of Chinese-European media framing and perceptions on BRI topics.
Big Ideas in Public Relations Research and Practice (Advances in Public Relations and Communication Management, Vol. 4), 2019
Using the theoretical frameworks of public diplomacy and public relations, we mapped how the Chin... more Using the theoretical frameworks of public diplomacy and public relations, we mapped how the Chinese government has used panda imagery to build its national brand on Twitter and how this ‘panda diplomacy’ has facilitated its para-diplomatic actions. Our findings uncover new attempts by the Chinese government to engage in digital diplomacy. Mobilizing panda imagery on Twitter enhanced friendly relations with foreign political leaders and people and established a friendly and peaceful image of China on Twitter.
En vue de modifier l’image controversée de sa présence en Afrique, le gouvernement chinois a mis ... more En vue de modifier l’image controversée de sa présence en Afrique, le gouvernement chinois a mis en œuvre une nouvelle stratégie de diplomatie publique qui place en avant la dimension interpersonnelle de la relation. Les récits englobant des relations interpersonnelles sont mobilisés par les relais médiatiques chinois dans Twitter pour soutenir l’argument récemment convoqué dans la stratégie chinoise d’une communauté Chine-Afrique de destin. En examinant les différentes pratiques discursives des médias chinois, qui sont considérés comme porte-parole gouvernementaux et partisans, envers leurs publics cibles sur Twitter, cet article étudie la manière dont Pékin mobilise des relations interpersonnelles dans sa diplomatie publique par le biais des médias sociaux.
The phrase “tell China stories well” (jianghao zhongguo gushi) is an important guide to China’s a... more The phrase “tell China stories well” (jianghao zhongguo gushi) is an important guide to China’s approach to public diplomacy. Uttered by Chinese president Xi Jinping in 2013, this phrase is an encouragement to use China’s own communication channels to promote and testify to official Chinese views and opinions and to strengthen the international influence of China. While social media diplomacy in China is still in its infancy, the Chinese government has launched a few diplomatic Twitter accounts to develop its public diplomacy network and to post stories about China for a global audience. Using a mixed- methods approach (i.e., manual coding, computer-assisted content analysis, network analysis, and discourse analysis), we examined how the Chinese government has mobilized a small number of diplomatic Twitter accounts to build a communication network and pursue the external propaganda goals of the Communist Party of China.
Communiquer. Revue de communication sociale et publique , 2019
The China-Africa relationship has evolved from the initial Chinese economic and political assista... more The China-Africa relationship has evolved from the initial Chinese economic and political assistance to Africa to today’s Sino-African comprehensive cooperation in political, economic social and cultural fields. In this context, the several local branches of the Confucius Institute have become a Chinese national platform to carry out teaching and cultural activities related to its public diplomacy to wield China’s soft power. This article analyses the hybridity of Confucius Institute’s communication activities and strategies, which combine one-way propaganda and two-way relational, even affective dimensions. This public diplomacy is aimed to charm many publics from the political, economic and intellectual decision-making elites’ level or high-potential profiles to that of ordinary citizens, especially students.
(FR) L’analyse netnographique des tweets publiés par les deux comptes Twitter des diplomates chin... more (FR) L’analyse netnographique des tweets publiés par les deux comptes Twitter des diplomates chinois à Bruxelles et à Ottawa en 2017 met en évidence les efforts de polyphonie de la diplomatie chinoise dans sa stratégie de publication sur des médias sociaux numériques. Ces comptes diplomatiques incarnent une diplomatie publique moderne et sympathique qui renouvelle le genre de la propagande et qui est la pointe émergée des stratégies de soft power chinois. Pékin continue à s’appuyer sur des mécanismes d’autocensure et des dispositifs de censure qui encadrent et prescrivent des discours diplomatiques chinois parfaitement lisses et harmonieux. Cette dimension stratégique est sans doute bien perçue par les publics et dirigeants étrangers. Pour autant, ces comptes autorisent des débuts de conversations et humanisent l’image de l’hyperpuissance chinoise.
(EN) Chinese Public Diplomacy on Twitter: Creating a Harmonious Polyphony A netnographic analysis of tweets published in 2017 in two Twitter accounts held by Chinese diplomats based in Brussels and Ottawa highlights the polyphonic nature of Chinese diplomacy’s digital social media strategy. The accounts of these diplomats embody a modern and friendly approach to public diplomacy, which breathes new life into propaganda as a genre. They are the tip of the iceberg of China’s soft power strategies. Beijing continues to rely on forms of censorship and self-censorship that condition Chinese public discourse and stipulate that it be perfectly sleek and harmonious. This strategic dimension is likely to be well-received by foreign leaders and nationals. At the same time, these Twitter accounts permit conversations to begin and give a human face to the Chinese superpower.
Les Enjeux de l’information et de la communication, 2021
Choix prioritaire des touristes chinois voyageant en France, le Louvre a lancé le 1er mai 2015 un... more Choix prioritaire des touristes chinois voyageant en France, le Louvre a lancé le 1er mai 2015 un projet numérique ciblant le média social chinois Weibo, destiné à promouvoir la culture et les valeurs françaises et à consolider sa présence et sa communication dans le monde sinophone. Son compte Weibo est devenu, depuis 2016, l’un des comptes mu- séaux étrangers les plus influents de l’internet chinois. À partir d’une démarche netno- graphique, nous avons observé l’ensemble des posts émis par le musée du Louvre tout au long de l’année 2019 (N=352) sur Weibo afin d’étudier, à travers le prisme de la diplomatie publique numérique, les stratégies communicationnelles du Louvre sur le net chinois et de comprendre en quoi le musée participait au rayonnement du soft power français en Chine.
Public Diplomacy and the Politics of Uncertainty, 2021
As one of Beijing’s people-to-people diplomacy flagships, Confucius Institute (CI) has been accus... more As one of Beijing’s people-to-people diplomacy flagships, Confucius Institute (CI) has been accused by some Western governments of overloading educational content with ideological positions and political values, disrespecting academic freedoms, and engaging in espionage. However, in Africa, CI initiatives are currently met with applause. As an actor exercising soft power in China-Africa relations, CI allows Beijing to legitimise its geo-political presence as well as industrial and commercial interests, while advancing China’s reputation among foreign publics. Using relationship management as an analytical lens, this chapter examines how CI in Kenya facilitates public diplomacy in addressing uncertainties associated with the rise of China as a global power. Considering the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s diplomatic principles of building China-Africa communities with a shared future, first, the chapter focuses on Chinese foreign policy and the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which enables Beijing to implement a legitimization strategy based on the developing CI “policy network” in Africa. Second, cooperative and interdependent relationships between organisational actors within and around CI facilitate the implementation of China’s public diplomacy in Africa and advance CI’s reputation as an open overseas cultural institution. Third, beyond its pedagogic and cultural missions, CI is a significant but subtle spokesperson for Beijing. Through its local branches, trained professionals participate in a long-term strategy of influence, based on affective engagement and storytelling. They engage local students in numerous group activities that aim to build cultural bonds with them.
This study of the U.S.–China trade war investigated how Beijing (a) uses institutional discourse ... more This study of the U.S.–China trade war investigated how Beijing (a) uses institutional discourse and rhetoric to conceptualize digital public diplomacy based on the autocratic system of the Communist Party of China and (b) legitimizes its highly centralized and politicized international communication practices. We also investigated how China’s domestic public diplomacy practices affect its international communication. Comparing the online activities of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs domestically (i.e., Weibo) and internationally (i.e., Twitter) revealed (a) that China first centralizes and politicizes communication content production and distribution to ensure that all messages follow the desired political direction and promote the desired value orientation; and (b) that, although inspired by the network communication perspective, Beijing’s digital public diplomacy emphasizes advocacy and narrative, ignores listening and exchange, and does not seek mutual cross-cultural adaptation. Digital public diplomacy is an instrument that serves China’s internal affairs, controlling and guiding domestic public opinion online to defend Communist Party of China leadership.
Revue MTO. Management des technologies organisationnelles, 2019
Grâce à des entretiens semi-directifs avec les diplomates / les professionnels en communication m... more Grâce à des entretiens semi-directifs avec les diplomates / les professionnels en communication muséale et l’analyse netnographique des posts de Weibo publiés par les musées français entre 2016 et 2017, cet article appréhende, d’un point de vue théorique, les mutations de la communication stratégique et de la diplomatie culturelle française à l’ère digitale. Pourquoi et en quoi les musées français lancent-ils les projets communicationnels dans les médias sociaux chinois ? Dans quelle mesure les stratégies de communication des musées français sur les médias sociaux chinois participent-elles conjointement à l’attractivité de ces musées auprès des publics chinois et à une forme de communication stratégique territoriale, voire de diplomatie parallèle culturelle de la France ?
Applying a constructive journalistic paradigm, we examined how the Chinese media digitalized pand... more Applying a constructive journalistic paradigm, we examined how the Chinese media digitalized panda diplomacy on Twitter. By analyzing English-language, panda-themed tweets (N = 855) posted by Chinese state-owned media (Xinhua News Agency, People's Daily, and CGTN) in 2017, we identified content types and communication engagement practices that contributed to Chinese digital diplomacy. Our findings confirm that the practice of panda engagement online is highly politicized in the context of China's public diplomacy. Chinese media outlets use Twitter (a) to spread official discourse and views in the diplomatic arena to strengthen the government's impact and (b) to accrue sympathy capital and increase attractiveness through strategic placement of imagery (e.g. static images, moving gifs, and video clips) and textual narrative.
Revue française des sciences de l’information et de la communication, 2019
This essay analyses both of Chinese and European discourses under the framework of Belt and Road ... more This essay analyses both of Chinese and European discourses under the framework of Belt and Road Initiative. It intends to compare different opinions in the context that rhetoric prevails over substance and a political project over economic gain. As one of the most important international projects designed by the Chinese president, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) combines China’s ancient Silk Road history with Beijing’s contemporary “going out, going global” strategy. It attempts to defend China multilateralism while projecting the Chinese dream. The time frame of this research is from January 2016 to April 2018. We collected BRI-themed news published in four tops European reference press and two Communist Party of China’s reference organs by using media monitors (i.e.,Factiva, Europresse, TweetDeck). Combined with the Twitter discourses analysis of Chinese media and diplomatic institutions in the same period and semi- structured interviews with Chinese-European officials, this paper analyzes in a comparative perspective the content of Chinese-European media framing and perceptions on BRI topics.
Big Ideas in Public Relations Research and Practice (Advances in Public Relations and Communication Management, Vol. 4), 2019
Using the theoretical frameworks of public diplomacy and public relations, we mapped how the Chin... more Using the theoretical frameworks of public diplomacy and public relations, we mapped how the Chinese government has used panda imagery to build its national brand on Twitter and how this ‘panda diplomacy’ has facilitated its para-diplomatic actions. Our findings uncover new attempts by the Chinese government to engage in digital diplomacy. Mobilizing panda imagery on Twitter enhanced friendly relations with foreign political leaders and people and established a friendly and peaceful image of China on Twitter.
En vue de modifier l’image controversée de sa présence en Afrique, le gouvernement chinois a mis ... more En vue de modifier l’image controversée de sa présence en Afrique, le gouvernement chinois a mis en œuvre une nouvelle stratégie de diplomatie publique qui place en avant la dimension interpersonnelle de la relation. Les récits englobant des relations interpersonnelles sont mobilisés par les relais médiatiques chinois dans Twitter pour soutenir l’argument récemment convoqué dans la stratégie chinoise d’une communauté Chine-Afrique de destin. En examinant les différentes pratiques discursives des médias chinois, qui sont considérés comme porte-parole gouvernementaux et partisans, envers leurs publics cibles sur Twitter, cet article étudie la manière dont Pékin mobilise des relations interpersonnelles dans sa diplomatie publique par le biais des médias sociaux.
The phrase “tell China stories well” (jianghao zhongguo gushi) is an important guide to China’s a... more The phrase “tell China stories well” (jianghao zhongguo gushi) is an important guide to China’s approach to public diplomacy. Uttered by Chinese president Xi Jinping in 2013, this phrase is an encouragement to use China’s own communication channels to promote and testify to official Chinese views and opinions and to strengthen the international influence of China. While social media diplomacy in China is still in its infancy, the Chinese government has launched a few diplomatic Twitter accounts to develop its public diplomacy network and to post stories about China for a global audience. Using a mixed- methods approach (i.e., manual coding, computer-assisted content analysis, network analysis, and discourse analysis), we examined how the Chinese government has mobilized a small number of diplomatic Twitter accounts to build a communication network and pursue the external propaganda goals of the Communist Party of China.
Communiquer. Revue de communication sociale et publique , 2019
The China-Africa relationship has evolved from the initial Chinese economic and political assista... more The China-Africa relationship has evolved from the initial Chinese economic and political assistance to Africa to today’s Sino-African comprehensive cooperation in political, economic social and cultural fields. In this context, the several local branches of the Confucius Institute have become a Chinese national platform to carry out teaching and cultural activities related to its public diplomacy to wield China’s soft power. This article analyses the hybridity of Confucius Institute’s communication activities and strategies, which combine one-way propaganda and two-way relational, even affective dimensions. This public diplomacy is aimed to charm many publics from the political, economic and intellectual decision-making elites’ level or high-potential profiles to that of ordinary citizens, especially students.
(FR) L’analyse netnographique des tweets publiés par les deux comptes Twitter des diplomates chin... more (FR) L’analyse netnographique des tweets publiés par les deux comptes Twitter des diplomates chinois à Bruxelles et à Ottawa en 2017 met en évidence les efforts de polyphonie de la diplomatie chinoise dans sa stratégie de publication sur des médias sociaux numériques. Ces comptes diplomatiques incarnent une diplomatie publique moderne et sympathique qui renouvelle le genre de la propagande et qui est la pointe émergée des stratégies de soft power chinois. Pékin continue à s’appuyer sur des mécanismes d’autocensure et des dispositifs de censure qui encadrent et prescrivent des discours diplomatiques chinois parfaitement lisses et harmonieux. Cette dimension stratégique est sans doute bien perçue par les publics et dirigeants étrangers. Pour autant, ces comptes autorisent des débuts de conversations et humanisent l’image de l’hyperpuissance chinoise.
(EN) Chinese Public Diplomacy on Twitter: Creating a Harmonious Polyphony A netnographic analysis of tweets published in 2017 in two Twitter accounts held by Chinese diplomats based in Brussels and Ottawa highlights the polyphonic nature of Chinese diplomacy’s digital social media strategy. The accounts of these diplomats embody a modern and friendly approach to public diplomacy, which breathes new life into propaganda as a genre. They are the tip of the iceberg of China’s soft power strategies. Beijing continues to rely on forms of censorship and self-censorship that condition Chinese public discourse and stipulate that it be perfectly sleek and harmonious. This strategic dimension is likely to be well-received by foreign leaders and nationals. At the same time, these Twitter accounts permit conversations to begin and give a human face to the Chinese superpower.
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Papers by Zhao Alexandre Huang
(EN) Chinese Public Diplomacy on Twitter: Creating a Harmonious Polyphony A netnographic analysis of tweets published in 2017 in two Twitter accounts held by Chinese diplomats based in Brussels and Ottawa highlights the polyphonic nature of Chinese diplomacy’s digital social media strategy. The accounts of these diplomats embody a modern and friendly approach to public diplomacy, which breathes new life into propaganda as a genre. They are the tip of the iceberg of China’s soft power strategies. Beijing continues to rely on forms of censorship and self-censorship that condition Chinese public discourse and stipulate that it be perfectly sleek and harmonious. This strategic dimension is likely to be well-received by foreign leaders and nationals. At the same time, these Twitter accounts permit conversations to begin and give a human face to the Chinese superpower.
(EN) Chinese Public Diplomacy on Twitter: Creating a Harmonious Polyphony A netnographic analysis of tweets published in 2017 in two Twitter accounts held by Chinese diplomats based in Brussels and Ottawa highlights the polyphonic nature of Chinese diplomacy’s digital social media strategy. The accounts of these diplomats embody a modern and friendly approach to public diplomacy, which breathes new life into propaganda as a genre. They are the tip of the iceberg of China’s soft power strategies. Beijing continues to rely on forms of censorship and self-censorship that condition Chinese public discourse and stipulate that it be perfectly sleek and harmonious. This strategic dimension is likely to be well-received by foreign leaders and nationals. At the same time, these Twitter accounts permit conversations to begin and give a human face to the Chinese superpower.