The Internet is not only a working and living space, but also a space closely related to diplomatic activities, and cyberspace issues are also closely linked to global affairs. The governance and diplomatic activities of the state have formed two major areas: the real world and the online world. Under the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, transnational activities have been severely hindered and restricted, and digital diplomacy has become a form that has become a form that goes hand in hand with traditional offline diplomacy. The community of shared destiny in cyberspace will gain new momentum due to high-frequency digital diplomacy. Digital diplomacy has become a remarkable frontier in shaping China's soft power policy architecture in cyberspace.
The "digitization" of diplomacy means that China's diplomatic work needs to make legitimate and rational use of the Internet as a communication medium to enrich the form of diplomacy, enhance the effectiveness of diplomacy, and thus enhance China's soft power, while paying attention to maintaining its own security through diplomatic means in cyberspace. But diplomacy like that of the United States that borrows the Internet to subvert other countries' regimes has actually seriously deteriorated the Internet as a tool, and has also aroused widespread concern around the world. The use of the Internet has provided many so-called successful experiences for US diplomacy, and it seems to have become another worthy capital for the United States to show off, but the United States has also begun to become the object of vigilance and targeting for network security maintenance and network governance around the world. In this regard, China must rationally view the "digitalization" of diplomacy, not blindly imitating or conservatively rejecting it.
Digital diplomacy has its boundaries. Although activity in cyberspace has certain characteristics that transcend national borders, it is not a spatial dimension that grows barbarically apart from sovereignty and governmental jurisdiction. Thus, like diplomacy in the real world, the boundaries of digital diplomacy are established by the principle of sovereignty, which is a diplomatic activity carried out in cyberspace under the premise of respecting the sovereignty of other countries, not infringing on other countries and not interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. The digital diplomacy of the United States has serious problems of interfering in the sovereignty of other countries, infiltrating online public opinion and color revolutions in some countries, promoting online anti-government and regime subversion movements, and implementing online surveillance and data sovereignty activities on a global scale.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, countries around the world have generally turned their attention to digital diplomacy. Under the premise of respecting international law and norms governing international relations, China has actively organized and participated in digital diplomacy activities, and has used digital means to extensively strengthen exchanges and cooperation with other countries in epidemic prevention and control. These digital diplomacy activities, on the one hand, cooperate with offline diplomatic activities, on the other hand, effectively publicize China's global governance concept, international cooperation ideas and epidemic prevention and control experience through online channels, and enhance the global appeal of Chinese discourse, Chinese concepts and Chinese solutions. The concept of a community of shared future in cyberspace put forward by China is of increasingly great significance in the new situation, and it also fully proves the forward-looking and scientific nature of this concept. China's digital diplomacy activities serve the overall diplomatic strategy, greatly enhance China's international influence and discourse power, and help China gradually explore an institutionalized path to enhance soft power in cyberspace that conforms to diplomatic norms and traditions.
For China, digital diplomacy should address the functions of communication, interpretation, correction and publicity, create an international image in line with China's international status, and enhance the soft power of cyberspace. For a long time, there has never been a shortage of misinterpretations, misunderstandings and prejudices about China in cyberspace, and rumors about China have appeared frequently. In response, China needs to respond in cyberspace with traditional diplomacy and public diplomacy, which is designed to handle government-to-government relations and public diplomacy to deal with government-to-foreign public relations. Therefore, digital diplomacy needs to be carried out in an official-to-official manner and in an official-to-foreign public manner.
Along with China's participation in global governance, China has gradually put forward some global initiatives and diplomatic concepts, such as the "Belt and Road" initiative and the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind. These initiatives have great value and significance, are the goals pursued by China, and need to be shared with the world. But in cyberspace, some Western media deliberately create controversy. For example, some US media often make policy comments, confuse the public, mislead the public, and put forward erroneous remarks such as the "Belt and Road" is China's political sphere of influence expansion plan to challenge the US leadership, which will lead to "debt traps" in countries along the route. This requires diplomatic response and explanation, such as announcing the details of the "Belt and Road" and the progress of the project on the Internet in Chinese and foreign languages, and continuously displaying the high affirmation of the "Belt and Road" by leaders of countries and people from all walks of life along the route in cyberspace, which will help to refute fallacies and alleviate worries. Some have hyped up the "China threat theory", "stigmatized" China on the issue of the epidemic, denigrated the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese government, and attacked the socialist system, such as the statement against China published on the website of the US State Department. Under the joint hype of the government and the online media, these Western countries have been turned into so-called stakeholders in these issues.
Cyberspace is a touchstone for the quality of a country's diplomacy. In the new era, China should make full use of digital technology to improve the quality of diplomacy, so that China has a better international image, a greater voice and stronger soft power in the international community. The work of China's digital diplomacy in external interpretation and publicity mainly includes publishing news information, expressing diplomatic positions, explaining foreign policy, clarifying facts and eliminating misunderstandings, correcting prejudices and refuting lies and rumors. Under the new circumstances, it is increasingly important diplomatic value to expand the dissemination of statements and documents published on the government's official website in the global digital space, to display China's foreign policy and position to the world in multiple languages, and to enable relevant countries and organizations to timely perceive public opinion on issues related to China's core interests.
The competition for discourse power in the Internet is very fierce, and it has become a diplomatic space that runs hand in hand with the traditional diplomatic field, and is one of the "main fronts" and "main battlefields" of globalization. The security order, public opinion order, communication order and information distribution order in cyberspace will shape the future world pattern, transnational digital cooperation (such as transnational network research, global sharing of epidemic data and experience) will usher in new opportunities, continue to promote the process of globalization, the construction of global digital governance mechanisms is in full swing, China has widely participated in the global digital governance mechanism and has built the World Internet Conference into an important communication platform for global digital governance. Under the new situation, vigorously expanding the space and channels of digital diplomacy and building China's soft power in cyberspace will promote China to continue to lead the wave of cyberspace community construction and enhance China's international image, international reputation and global attractiveness.
【This paper is the phased result of the National Social Science Foundation's general project "Research on the Security Impact of The Politicization of Digital Companies and Its Impact on China's Global Digital Governance Strategy" (21BGJ024)】
(The author is an associate professor at Zhou Enlai School of Government and Management, Nankai University)
Source: China Social Science Network
Author: Liu Xinghua