中日关系逆境中推进对日公共外交——以日本立命馆孔子学院为案例

Promoting Public Diplomacy towards Japan in Adversarial Political Environment—Focusing on the Ritsumeikan Confucius Institute

紧张的政治关系被认为是中国对日公共外交不畅的症结。作为中国公共外交的代表,孔子学院在日本也曾遭遇阻力,但最终成功存续。本文以立命馆孔子学院为例研究中日政治关系逆境中如何开展公共外交,得出以下初步结论:第一,中日关系逆境并不必然导致公共外交失败,通过与日方伙伴构筑稳固的合作关系,公共外交可以克服中日关系逆境成功存续;第二,推进对日公共外交应当注重对日方合作伙伴的筛选,避免由政府强力推进;第三,区别对待不同类型的孔子学院,采取支持或退出机制并用的举措激发日方合作伙伴的积极性。

The tense political relations are thought to be the most important factor of China’s public diplomacy towards Japan.As a representation of China’s public diplomacy towards Japan,the Confucius Institutes(CIs)in Japan have worked successfully despite some difficulties.This paper will explore how to promote public diplomacy in an adversarial political environment by focusing on the Ritsumeikan CI.The following three preliminary conclusions can be drawn:first,an adversarial political environment does not inevitably lead to public diplomacy failure.Public diplomacy initiatives could survive by building stable cooperation with the local partners.Second,China should pay attention to select qualified Japanese local partners rather than government highly recommended partners to promote public diplomacy towards Japan.Third,different CIs should be treated by different methods.A mixture of support and exit mechanism could stimulate the enthusiasm of Japanese partners.