Author: Hu Zhengrong (Director, Institute of Journalism and Communication, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Professor, PhD Supervisor)
Today's world is experiencing "major changes unprecedented in a century", the wave of anti-globalization and unilateralism and protectionism set off by Western developed countries continue to spread, and the new crown pneumonia epidemic that has swept in has a structural impact on the global technological power pattern and information dissemination order. With the continuous advancement of international anti-epidemic work, the transfer of global power to the east has accelerated, and the Western world, which is at the commanding height of the global communication order, out of anxiety about China's rise, has hyped up the "China threat theory", "China arrogance theory", "Thucydides Trap" and "Kindleberg Trap", which has filled the international public opinion field with stereotypes, polarized remarks and false information, distorting and obscuring China's outstanding contributions and important significance in the process of promoting global anti-epidemic and world peace.
Since the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, through the accurate judgment of the global political pattern, public opinion environment and communication order, the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has attached great importance to the construction of China's international discourse power, pointing out that it is necessary to convey China's voice and tell Chinese stories well in the international community, in order to enhance the international community's true understanding of China. Continuing this logic, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed when presiding over the 30th collective study of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee on May 31, 2021, "It is necessary to accelerate the construction of Chinese discourse and Chinese narrative system, use Chinese theory to explain Chinese practice, use Chinese practice to sublimate Chinese theory, create new concepts, new categories and new expressions that integrate China and foreign countries, and more fully and more clearly show the Chinese story and the ideological and spiritual power behind it." It can be seen that the construction of an international discourse power that is consistent with comprehensive national strength to effectively respond to the discourse hegemony of the Western world has been recognized as a topic of the times of national strategic significance.
Break the mainland's long-term retardation in the weakness of its discourse power in comprehensive national strength
In the development process of human civilization, the power of information has become increasingly prominent, and today the whole world is wrapped in information dissemination. In the specific field of power of the international field of public opinion, the acquisition of the qualifications and ability to express one's own positions or concerns has become a universal pursuit of all countries. International discourse refers to an international power relationship, usually based on comprehensive national strength, reflecting the position of an international actor in the entire world political and economic power structure and its impact. It is precisely for this reason that the Party Central Committee has always attached great importance to the practice of international communication, and has tried to eliminate the misunderstanding and misjudgment of the international community by taking the initiative to speak out, and to win the understanding and support of the international community. However, the mainland has long been in a weak position of being described and suppressed in the field of international public opinion, and the root cause is that the mainland has not yet built up an international discourse power that is compatible with its comprehensive national strength. It can be seen that the connotation of international discourse power cannot be limited to the power and ability to express in the flow of international information, but more importantly, how to convince and accept their own views and have a substantial impact on the target through this expression.
The construction and aggregation of discourse is a systematic, historical and continuous process, and the international public opinion environment facing China is the result of this process. From the perspective of history, with the early colonial expansion activities carried out by the Western world under the "law of the jungle", the global communication order of "strong west and weak east" has gradually taken shape. By virtue of their grasp and accumulation of global resources, developed countries firmly occupy the high position of global information flow and dominate international public opinion, and use the power of communication to build a subordinate relationship between non-Western civilizations, and constantly instill in other nation-states the ideological ideology and value standards they advocate. Looking at the mainstream narrative discourse of modernization in developed countries, it can be clearly found that these discourses are in line with the dominant discourse logic of imperialism, colonialism and Orientalism, and there are natural civilizational superiority and hegemonic tendencies and influences on non-Western countries and civilizations, and the vast number of developing countries represented by China have long been in the position of others and aphasiars in this imbalance pattern. Since the reform and opening up, China has made remarkable development achievements, and gradually realized the transformation from a bystander to a leader in the international system, but due to the long-term delay in the construction of international discourse power and the improvement of comprehensive national strength, the influence of mainland discourse cannot match its own status as a major country, not only is it difficult to obtain full understanding and recognition in the international public opinion field, and even the achievement of domestic consensus is also interfered with by the discourse bias of the Western world.
In recent years, the macro-changes in the political, economic and cultural fields of the international community have provided a historic opportunity for the construction of the mainland's international discourse power. On the one hand, the development momentum of developed countries represented by Britain and the United States has declined slightly, their influence on international affairs has declined relatively, and the sense of civilization superiority and egocentrism they pursue have begun to be replaced by the concept of civilization based on respect and dialogue; on the other hand, the economic and social development of the vast number of third world countries represented by China has shown unprecedented vitality. Proceeding from this significance, the approach of seeking the construction of international discourse power in the new era has become the challenge and historical choice that China will inevitably face in the process of moving from a world power to a powerful country.
Seek the right to build a path for discourse power in the new era towards a strong country
Based on the dual considerations of historical experience and objective reality, we should soberly realize that the construction of international discourse power as an important part of a country's soft power is a difficult and complicated long process. The construction and realization of international discourse power should not only come from the construction of the voice channel platform and the grasp of the voice opportunity, but also from the attractiveness of its own culture and system, and more importantly, the establishment and guidance of the legitimacy of national ideology and core values. In other words, the approach to the construction of mainland international discourse power in the new era must be supported by the strategic communication system as the underlying support, the institutional and cultural foundation as the endogenous force, and the core values as the ultimate guide, and the three complement each other and cannot be abandoned.
●Take the strategic communication system as the underlying support to build a three-dimensional discourse network.
For a long time, the international communication practice in mainland China has been mainly undertaken by the government and professional foreign media organizations. The wave of digitization and informatization has made the Internet the most important infrastructure in human society, the characteristics of the digital age such as the pluralism of communication subjects, the rich discourse perspective, and the elimination of time and space boundaries have also been continuously strengthened under the empowerment of technology, the connotation and extension of international communication have undergone tremendous changes, and the decentralized and passive international communication practice carried out by a single official subject in the past has been difficult to adapt to the new communication environment and public opinion ecology, let alone break through the obstacles in the international public opinion field to achieve the improvement of international communication influence. The ultimate goal of Chinese cultural appeal, Chinese image affinity, Chinese discourse persuasion, and international public opinion guidance. In order to solve the dilemma of the mainland in the field of international public opinion, "reasonable can not say", "can not be said" and "spread and shouted", the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core has oriented the pulse of the next step of international communication work, pointing out that it is necessary to integrate, coordinate and integrate the main body of international communication and its strategy, resources, strength, tactics and other aspects from a top-level perspective, and iteratively upgrade the traditional international communication system into a strategic communication system with Chinese characteristics and build a three-dimensional discourse network.
In the strategic communication system in the new era, it is reasonable to incorporate multi-level and multi-dimensional forces into the international communication work pattern as the main body of discourse, that is, to achieve the transformation from single official communication to diversified participation of the whole people, whether it is the national government at the macro level, the social organization at the meso level, or the individual at the micro level, should become the node of this three-dimensional discourse network. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, all regions and departments should give full play to their own characteristics and advantages to carry out their work and display a colorful, vivid and three-dimensional image of China. Specifically, government departments and mainstream media should take the initiative to assume the responsibility of being the main force of international communication and actively respond to the concerns of the international community. At the same time, all kinds of enterprises, institutions, academic institutions, non-governmental organizations and even individuals at all levels should become the main body of international communication practice on the mainland. Although these discourse subjects are insufficient in the professionalism and authority of information dissemination, compared with the grand narrative and official discourse in the traditional sense, these discourses close to daily life are more vivid and real, more warm and emotional, and can accurately analyze and judge different problems, so as to solve the obstacles in international communication through interpersonal communication, organizational communication and mass communication. At the same time, the new strategic communication system must implement accurate communication for different discourse objects. Different from the traditional media era, users have obtained a high degree of autonomy in information selection under the continuous empowerment of technology, and the sinking of scene segmentation has become the mainstream trend, and it is naturally difficult to achieve the desired communication effect of communication content that lacks precision and differentiated characteristics. Therefore, user research and insight will become the starting point of all international communication practices, and "one continent, one policy" should also be further accurate to "one country, one policy" and even "one group and one policy".
As a new communication system covering many links from top-level design to specific implementation, the construction and improvement of a complete and three-dimensional discourse network must rely on the cultivation of various types of international communication talents at all levels, which is also the fundamental condition and necessary factor for the iterative upgrading of the strategic communication system. Human resources and talent team are the foundation of the international discourse power construction cause in the new era, whether it is top-level design and research layout, or even system design, it is necessary to have an international communication talent and decision-making team with a broad vision, a lofty position, a heavy sense of responsibility and strong execution. This is also the reason why General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to strengthen the training of international communication knowledge for leading cadres, and made the cultivation of international communication ability the focus of teaching in party schools and administrative colleges at all levels.
●Take the institutional and cultural foundation as the endogenous force to enrich the core of pluralistic discourse.
Proceeding from China's standpoint, the current international communication practice of the mainland can indeed help the mainland to clarify its position in the increasingly intensifying international public opinion field in the short term, and deconstruct and fight back against the discourse text woven under the zero-sum logic of the West in a targeted manner. However, in the long run, this kind of passive, one-way interpretation, voice and explanation work cannot really realize the construction of international discourse power, but will strengthen the prejudice formed within the framework of the original discourse to a certain extent, and even be misinterpreted as the "sharp strength" of promoting the Chinese model, which invisibly promotes the "China threat theory" and other arguments. In fact, the construction of international discourse power is a process of endogenous force extending outwards, which depends on the institutional basis, cultural representation and social landscape of China's own prosperity and development, which is the truth implied by "having poetry and books in the belly". Therefore, if we want to build a solid and powerful international discourse power, the key is to solve the problem of our own development, support the international communication discourse with a superior and solid institutional foundation and profound cultural representations, and deconstruct the international public opinion system under the narrow ethnocentrism, absolutism and self-interest orientation of the West with a discourse core that combines moral and humanistic care and universal values and rationality.
As the externalized presentation and bearing object of a country's values, the institutional foundation is generally reflected through the reality of national governance and the pluralistic social behavior of different subjects. The so-called "telling the Chinese story well" is to tell the social behaviors of positive significance and lasting influence such as China's governance facts in recent years, which is behind China's institutional foundation and its value system. The dissemination of "storytelling" itself is an important aspect of the construction of international discourse power, and excellent storytelling can reflect the institutional ideals and arrangement capabilities of a national subject, so as to obtain people's recognition and affirmation. If you want to create a confident, cute and respectable image of China, you must follow the following key points of "storytelling": First, the static "story" itself must have elements such as authenticity, appeal and impact, and the communication effect of the story with flaws in the constituent elements is naturally unsatisfactory. Secondly, in the dynamic "storytelling" process, it is necessary to transform the discourse expression form and narrative characteristics to stimulate the emotional resonance of the target users, and at the same time fully adapt to the basic requirements of accurate communication in the network society, in order to increase the comprehensibility and acceptability of the story, so as to lay the foundation for achieving value identity.
Compared with the institutional foundation, culture, as the constituent element of the "soft power" of the main body of the state, contains the historical experience, development wisdom and value belief of a country and a nation, and its power is therefore more basic and lasting. In the long history of Chinese culture and Chinese civilization, chinese civilization has formed an ideological value system that contributes to mankind and affects the world, especially the inter-civilizational thinking that transcends self-centeredness and single subjectivity. These inexhaustible and endless precious resources are not only the source and foundation of China's international communication, but also the cultural people should be regarded as the guarantee of the effectiveness and durability of international discourse power today. To be a cultural person, we must first have "literature", that is, while contributing China's excellent traditional culture to the world, we must also focus on global civilization based on Chinese practice and provide the world with more global governance programs and public goods that highlight China's wisdom, China's propositions and China's responsibility. Cultural people, followed by "transformation", that is, in the context of a new era, to promote excellent traditional culture to achieve creative transformation and innovative development, and to explore the contemporary value and world significance of it.
● Take the core values as the ultimate guide to achieve common discourse identity.
The evolution of information technology has brought human development to a historic inflection point, and we are entering a society with increasingly diverse ideologies, values and their expressions. For contemporary countries, international communication practice tells the content of the institutional basis, cultural representation and social ecology of a national subject, and these aspects must be based on values, and the influence of values is the most lasting. Without a solid foundation of values, international communication will inevitably become a wood without a root and a source of water. Therefore, there is such a basic consensus, that is, the contest between different national subjects in the field of international public opinion is, in the final analysis, a contest of values, and the realization of international discourse power also mainly depends on whether values can be accepted and understood. For China, which aims to break the barriers of the Western discourse system and build an international discourse power in the new era, it is particularly important for a China that can transcend racial, cultural, international and ideological boundaries, focus on the overall situation of world peace, development and cooperation, reflect the common interests and pursuits of all mankind, and have common and global consensus.
Since its proposal in 2015, the "Community of Shared Future for Mankind" has aroused great repercussions in the international community, has been universally recognized and understood by the vast number of developing countries, and has been adopted by Uncom resolutions and Security Council resolutions as the concept, goal and vision of world peaceful development. As a value, the "Community of Shared Future for Mankind" highlights the contemporary Chinese world outlook and power concept, and is a "Chinese plan" that condenses the wisdom of Chinese civilization. At the level of philosophical concepts, it continues to inherit the traditional Chinese concept of tianxia, righteousness and harmony, advocates eclecticism, harmony and difference, and opposes isolated, static and one-sided view of problems, thus breaking through the shackles of the concept of either-or, non-white and ink, and dualistic opposition, and providing a new theoretical perspective for human beings to think about survival and development. As an inclusive and win-win program and concept with a national stance, the "Community of Shared Future for Mankind" is based on the intersection of international communism, the ideal of Datong and New Cosmopolitanism, forming a "cosmopolitan" connection of common experience and experience of multiple subjects. It not only transcends the cognitive limitations of individual peoples and countries, realizes the vision of humanitarian thinking and global well-being focus, but also has great malleability in the concept connotation, and has the potential to realize the slogan of "Beauty and Beauty, Unity in the World". In this sense, the "community of human destiny" has become the core content and ultimate value pursuit to be expressed by the mainland's international discourse power.
In recent years, the mainland has made great efforts to enhance its international discourse power, but the effect is not satisfactory. In the post-epidemic era when nationalism is constantly prominent, geopolitical forces continue to intensify, and multiculturalism is squeezed, it is impossible to optimize and reshape the international communication discourse beyond the scope of content under the guidance of the concept of "community of human destiny", and build an international discourse power in the new era that matches the comprehensive national strength, and realize universal discourse identity. In the specific construction of discourse power and the practice of international communication, there are two sets of relationships that should be paid attention to.
The first group deals with the relationship between the individuality and universality of values. The "Chinese story" is supported by institutional foundations and cultural representations, and its individuality is indisputable. But this does not mean that we can talk and entertain ourselves when we spread, because only universal discourse can be disseminated and acceptable, and the next thing we have to do is to let international communication discourse touch the common values of human beings, in line with the universal moral standards of human beings, the laws of universal cognition and basic logical relations. The second group deals with the relationship between the inclusiveness and conflict of values, that is, how to achieve the unity of values and the realistic debugging of diversity. As mentioned above, the values pursued by the national subjects in today's international public opinion field are different, so our international communication discourse cannot only carry a single value, but should rely on the connotation and malleability advantage of the values of the "community of human destiny" to become an inclusive body and coexistence field of values that seek common ground while reserving differences.
At present, the inherent shortcomings of the current international system have been exposed under the influence of the epidemic, and the whole world is strongly calling for a new type of international relations that can respect and understand the differences between each other's cultural beliefs and historical traditions. As a major country with international responsibilities, China is participating in global governance with a more active attitude, and has gradually become an important force in promoting a new round of globalization, and how to break the old communication order and seek space for international discourse power is becoming increasingly urgent and necessary. In the future, under the guidance of the concept of "community of human destiny", China should strive to implement the construction of international discourse power in the new era, with a view to realizing the effective expression of China's voice and the true presentation of China's image on a global scale, sharing good ideas and good solutions that embody Chinese wisdom and contain Chinese experience to the world, and promote mankind to a better tomorrow.
Source: People's Forum Network