Ideological or Pragmatic： The US Public Diplomacy toward China in the Post-9/11 Era

This paper examines the US public diplomacy toward China in the post-9/11 era. Although emphasizing more on promoting a positive American image in the Arabic world, the Bush administration also stepped up its pace on beaming the American message to China. Analyzing the public diplomatic behavior since 9/11, including the President＇s visit to the Olympics, the public diplomacy ambassador sent to China, the influence of the VOA, and the privatization of pubhc diplomacy, the author evaluates the effectiveness of the US public diplomacy toward China, which becomes more pragmatic than ideological. In the end, the divide of the American image in China illustrates the complexity of the US public diplomacy in China.