Zhang Yiwu: External communication needs to be more confident and calm

Source: Global Times

In the Internet era, how to do a good job in external communication, how to grasp the relationship between external communication and internal communication, in view of some recent discussions on the Internet, the author believes that it is necessary to further explore.

To do a good job in external communication, we must first consider the audience's ideas, pay attention to the differences in different social and cultural backgrounds and environments, and have a deep understanding of the audience, so as to be able to adapt to their needs. Only by being able to integrate with the audience's expected vision can communication play a practical role in "moisturizing and silent". Relatively narrow objects, the spread is more targeted. For a wider range of objects, propagation is to look for the "greatest common divisor". This ability to perceive objects is an important aspect of communication and requires long-term efforts to improve related capabilities. At the same time, the key to foreign communication is to spread China's values and China's real situation, so that the world can better understand and understand, and shape China's "credible, lovely and respectable" image. Therefore, external communication and internal communication have both differences and similarities, and it is impossible to be completely separated.

On the one hand, external communication and internal communication are essentially consistent, both of which are objective and true reflections of China's situation, reflecting the values, social choices and thoughts of Chinese, and these basic insistences cannot be fundamentally changed due to the difference in propaganda objects, otherwise it may become a simple response to the audience, and it is impossible to truly achieve effective external communication.

On the other hand, in the current global environment, especially in the Internet environment, there will be no clear boundary between external and internal communication. The Chinese public has a full understanding of the current situation of the international public opinion field; the will and ideas of the Chinese public will of course be understood by people in the world. While recognizing the differences in the objects of communication, we must also see the influence and role between the inside and the outside.

Objectively speaking, the current foreign communication of our country is indeed deliberately blocked, distorted and blocked by some forces in the United States and the West, and on their public opinion "home", there are many false and deliberately fabricated dissemination of China's image, for them, this is also internal and external communication: on the one hand, such propaganda is carried out at home, and on the other hand, it is also targeted malicious communication to developing countries. It is conceivable that with the improvement of China's comprehensive national strength and the growth of its global contribution, such spreads with obvious malice will occur more often. Our efforts to make China's voice heard in response to these false spreads are not "quarrelsome", but to let the real image of China be objectively displayed in the field of global public opinion.

Of course, this kind of effort may not be accepted by some foreign audiences, who have long been infiltrated and influenced by ideological prejudice, and have formed some stereotypes of China due to the narrow and one-sided vision caused by media propaganda. On the one hand, we need to tell the truth in a way that they can accept; on the other hand, we need to state it with firm expression. In such a situation, refutation and counterattack are also necessary, which is a way to break through the shielding and distortion, does not involve the distinction of "soft" or "hard", but resolutely safeguards China's interests and image in various ways under different circumstances and occasions. There should be no limit to which way is appropriate and which way can be heard. When faced with an audience that is listenable to a certain extent, it is possible to achieve relatively good results by adopting a way that adapts to them. For those who are full of prejudice and fundamentally distort the reality of China, they often directly puncture lies and illusions, and use powerful ways to refute and fight back against them, which will also achieve good results.

External communication should pay attention to the laws and characteristics of communication, which requires more self-confidence and calmness. (The author is a professor at Peking University)