Cultural Diplomacy in East Asia (CDEA)

Introduction to Cultural Diplomacy in East Asia

Cultural diplomacy is a type of diplomacy that involves both public and private sector, and soft power practices including the “exchange of ideas, information, art and other aspects of culture among nations and their peoples in order to foster mutual understanding”. The purpose of cultural diplomacy is for the people of a foreign nation to develop an understanding of the nation's ideals and institutions in an effort to build broad support for economic and political goals. In essence “cultural diplomacy reveals the soul of a nation”, which in turn creates influence. This is the reason why, cultural diplomacy is the linchpin of public diplomacy; for it is in cultural activities that a nation’s idea of itself is best represented. And cultural diplomacy can enhance our national security in subtle, wide-ranging, and sustainable ways, by playing an important role in achieving national security aims.

An overview of East Asia

The United Nations define East Asia as the region containing China, Hong Kong, Macao, North Korea, Japan, Mongolia and South Korea. There is a discrepancy between how other organizations and disciplines would define this region. Generally, East Asian countries are among the top business, trading and investment partners of the world and their economic relations continue to grow at a high rate. East Asia is the world’s fastest growing economy by GDP. Growth rates for 2014 are expected to be around 8.08% for China, 4.77% for South Korea, 2.94% for Hong Kong while growth for other countries are expected to decline. As a result of rapid economic growth in this region many human rights issues have emerged. Most East Asian countries including Japan still apply the death penalty. In South Korea the freedom of speech is limited. Whilst in China, acts of torture, execution, excessive use of force in public order by the police, repression of dissent and forced repatriation of asylum seekers continues to be committed. For example, countless cases of North Koreans defectors attempting to reach South Korea through China have been sent back without recourse to a refugee determination procedure. In North Korea, the situation is still very unclear but many reports from successful North Korean defectors have illustrated the excessive amount of human rights violations committed in concentration camps and the government’s failure to uphold basic human rights to food and health care. Given the history of controversies revolving around military and nuclear power with Japan, North Korea, and particularly China who is experiencing explosive economic growth, their co-operation in regional economic and security issues could be hindered. Neighboring countries of China have become increasingly concerned with its major nuclear power, increase in military modernization and possession of the largest army in this region. High tensions erupted between China and Taiwan due to increased militarism in the South China Sea and ongoing hostilities over North Korea’s stability and nuclear program. Another source of tension, suspicion and misconception stem from disputes over territorial possession in this region.

Relationships between countries have evolved beyond political and economic ties into cultural exchanges. The ways to which different countries in East Asia are perceived and presented in their neighboring countries have often been misconstrued and initiatives in cultural exchanges could help overcome this obstacle. Cultural diplomacy can help establish a foundation of trust, dialogue and understanding between countries in this region. It incorporates the exchange of values and overarching ideas that can lead to a high degree of awareness where countries can unite and reach reconciliation on unresolved historic conflicts. Encompassing government, academia, private sector including efforts mounted by some corporations and non-governmental organizations support efforts of exchanging cultures and values of countries in this region. Programs in this region have evolved from the historical view of cultural diplomacy as a subset of “public domain,” which included art, sports, and education but now to incorporate community, health care, economic and technological development.

Culture Diplomacy in East Asia has noted a considerable growth mainly in fields such as art, sports, literature, music, science, health, business and economy. Since it can be represented from different points of views, in the following sections four types of Cultural Diplomacy involvement in East Asia will be presented: Cultural Diplomacy through arts and sport, Creative Economies, Nation-Branding and Corporate Cultural Diplomacy.

Recent examples of traditional Cultural Diplomacy in East Asia

East Asia countries have given impetus to events in which the culture, figurative and culinary art, as well as music have served as cornerstones to cultural diplomacy.

1. China - In August 2013, the Shanghai Ballet Company made its U.K. debut in London with a contemporary performance based on Jane Eyre, a Victorian novel by English writer Charlotte Brontë. That show was meant to broad and deep cultural exchanges between China and Great Britain, as well as increase mutual understanding. China, which tends to be regarded negatively in many European and North American societies, needs to improve its perceptions among foreign publics.

That's why China has got 324 Confucius Institutes in countries and regions across the world (this is more than twice as many as German Goethe Institutes).Their aim is to promote Chinese language and culture and facilitate cultural exchanges.

Moreover, China recently hosted cultural mega-events such as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. Both events were major platforms for the Chinese government to showcase the country’s achievements and provided opportunities to increase its international recognition and status.

2. Japan - There was a lot of effort put in connecting Japan only with positive images of the country, as an unique Asian nation. The concept of “Cool Japan,” which flourished in the days of the Junichiro Koizumi administration, was Japan’s cultural diplomacy strategy, and it targeted pop culture. The term was originally used by Douglas McGray when describing Japan’s cultural potential in his essay “Japan’s Gross National Cool,” published in 2002. It described how in contrast with a Japanese economy that had continued to decline since the collapse of the bubble economy, Japanese pop culture had begun to exert significant influence around the world. Anime, manga, fashion, pop music, cuisine and novels from young writers all began to occupy an important role in Japan’s international cultural activities. The combination of Japanese electronic technology with traditional culture also began to attract attention.

In Japan in the 1980s and 90s, eating sushi was reserved for when you were entertaining important guests or celebratory occasions. It was rare to have it once a month let alone on a weekly basis, as it is consumed by many today. Filmmaker Mark Hall , an avid sushi lover, realized how far the taste for sushi had spread when he came across sushi restaurants in Poland back in 2004. A few years later, he set out to produce and direct a documentary film entitled Sushi: The Global Catch that is currently making its way through the international film festival circuit. The film is both a love story about the artistry, history and culture of sushi; a documentation of the global expansion of the sushi industry started in Japan; and a lament for its inevitable loss (particularly of bluefin tuna) due to our insatiable global appetite for it. Japanese fashion is more and more influencing westerner style these days, it may not yet be as popular as luxury brands like Dior and Louis Vuitton, but it is slowly being adopted by more and more teenagers and young women in the western world. The immediate influence of Japanese street fashion is said to be China, Korea and Taiwan. Geographical and cultural affinities are said to be among the most important factors.

3. South Korea – Korean Wave and its impact on the world. Korean popular culture products, also known as „Korean Wave” ranges from television dramas, movies, popular music (K-pop), dance (B-boys), and to a lesser extent videogames, food, fashion, tourism, and language (Hangul). Those products promote Korea's cultural diplomacy and strengthens their contacts with other countries.

Korean Wave evolved from a regional development into a global phenomenon due to the proliferation of Korean pop music videos in the Internet. The growing acceptance of South Korean pop culture as a valid form of entertainment in many parts of the world has prompted the government of South Korea to use the Korean Wave as a tool for soft power. That is why, Korean Wave is used as one of the tools in Korean reunification and improvement of the image of the country.

Corporate Cultural Diplomacy in East Asia

Corporate Cultural Diplomacy activities are privately funded programs that encourage the exchange of cultural practices and values, aiming to promote inter-cultural dialogue and respect, and that cover a wide spectrum of diverse fields and stakeholders. On the one hand, through Foundations, private actors often invest in non-profit oriented activities in order to share their surplus with NGOs as well as charitable organizations, and at the same time to improve their public image. On the other hand, thanks to their great economic and social capital, companies foster initiatives by involving the local communities aiming to give the value they created back to the society.

Over the past decade, the notion of private philanthropy and volunteerism has emerged in East Asia and an increasing number of companies have begun to produce corporate social responsibility reports. Actually, the Asian Social Enterprise Sector has grown in a diverse way and the meaning of corporate social responsibility in a specific country is determined by the social priorities and the political and sociocultural context. Overall, while some companies promote many social contribution activities, others are still at an embryonic phase and a lot of their initiatives are driven by governmental relationships.

To bring up a good example of Corporate Cultural Diplomacy, we could start by illustrating the involvement of big Asian multinational companies in sponsorship of scholarships and educational programs for young people. For instance, Nikon is supporting education for young people in Thailand through the “Nikon Scholarship Program in Thailand”, which was established to commemorate the company’s 90th anniversary. This program is comprised of two scholarships. The Nikon Shanti Scholarship enables junior and senior high school students to receive a basic education. The other is the Nikon Chulalongkorn Scholarship that supports Thai students studying in graduate schools in Japan. The Nikon Shanti Scholarship is implemented with the cooperation of two organizations: The Shanti Volunteer Association, a Japanese group with experience in social-contribution activities in Thailand, and Thailand’s Sikkha Asia Foundation. In this way, the Japanese company decided to use corporate cultural diplomacy by supporting the education system as the most benefit to Thailand’s future and by helping build bridges between the two Asian countries.

Corporate social responsibility activities are also required to generate a positive reputation and brand awareness in the target country. This is particular relevant for China, which is playing an increasing role in the African economy and, despite some ups and downs, seems focused on the continent. Even though some experts believe that the Chinese philanthropic involvement is the missing ingredient in the China-Africa relationship, some companies are strengthening intercultural relations with local communities by fostering some relevant projects. For example, starting from 2011, Sinohydro, Chinese industry leader in engineering and construction, brought into service many projects including private and public-sector housing, major industrial facilities, public amenities, hospitals, schools, stadiums, and airports in Africa. In particular, it has invested in Angola with the rehabilitation and construction of the Central Hospital in Benguela and the construction of the Central Hospital in Malanje. These projects help not only build public facilities and support local employment during construction, but also bring real benefits to the local people and increase the bilateral relations between China and Angola.

Finally, some Asian companies provide successful forms of mediation and intervention, assisting in the eradication of poverty and in the humanitarian assistance after natural disaster. A good example is that of Fujitsu, which decided to make contribution to humanitarian assistance following Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. In November 15, 2013, to support relief efforts and the safety and security of local communities, the Fujitsu Group has decided to make a combined corporate donation of five million yen. Besides, Fujitsu is projecting to work through its local subsidiaries to assist all-out efforts to recover social infrastructure in the area.

This short overview makes clear that many Asian foundations and companies are promoting global health and poverty reduction initiatives by injecting funds into aid programmes under their corporate social responsibility programmes. All these initiatives coming from the private sector demonstrate how private support to international development and humanitarian assistance has become increasingly important in East Asia.

Creative Economies

Creative economy is a relatively new concept that aims to define those fields that involve human creativity and innovation. It values the human mind as the most important asset and is viewed as the best solution for the long-term sustainable economic and social development of countries or regions.

East Asian countries such as China, Japan, The Republic of Korea, Hong Kong seem to understand that in order to have a sustainable economic development, they have to focus on creative, innovative industries and surpass the era of traditional industries such as mining, exploitation of land resources, production factories. This is shown in the way they focus on education and the way civil society is encouraged to focus on creative activities. In Shanghai we can find organizations such as: the Shanghai School of Creativity, the John Howkins Research Centre on the Creative Economy, the Shanghai Creative Industries Association and the Shanghai Creative Industry Centre. These are indicators of the awareness of local authorities and civil society of how important creative economy is for the community.

Cultural diplomacy as the exchange of ideas, values, traditions is present even when we talk about economy and private companies. In today’s creative economy, many companies that operate in the field of software, advertising, publishing are global corporations who operate beyond the control of national governments and are involved in intercultural dialogue and exchanges in their day to day activity. For example, the software industry in China was worth about $416 billion in 2012, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information technology and more than 60% of the software products developed in China were exported to Japan, followed by the US. The interdependence that is created in this way between the countries and their economies increases the need for cooperation and decreases the risk of future conflicts.

Furthermore, China, South Korea, Japan are countries known for their growing talent and expertise in the field of software. The young Chinese, Korean and Japanese who go to work for different international companies help in building a positive image for their countries.

These interactions can be positive in that they encourage people of different cultures to find out more about other cultures and to become aware of the cultural diversity in the world, but it also takes the negative aspects to an international level. For example, because creative economies are about new ideas, innovations, the main challenge it encounters is the counterfeiting – the illegal copying and use of the intellectual property. In the last years, there have been a number of controversies on this issue where Chinese companies have been accused of illegally copying software and innovative technology developed by American and European companies. This kind of incidents can trigger diplomatic conflicts between China and western countries trying to protect their economies and to enforce their legislation regarding intellectual property. Clashes between corporations and countries are part of today’s world. To focus on the positive side, this growing importance that global corporations have in the world enables them to be important and relevant actors in the field of cultural diplomacy. Their budgets are sometimes bigger than the budgets of some smaller countries and their impact on the local communities in terms of supporting the development of education and professional reorientation is great.

When talking about creative economies we also talk about using culture and traditions as unlimited resources to create commercial products and by doing this, by giving culture commercial value we also promote and help preserve that culture. One good example is gastronomy because Asian cuisine is famous around the world. Chinese and Japanese restaurants are probably present in every city and even smaller town around the planet, thus promoting in all of these countries an important aspect of Chinese and Japanese culture. Tourism is also a branch of the economic sector that nowadays uses mainly cultural products to attract tourists; tourist agencies are selling the Chinese/Japanese/Korean experience, way of life - food, music, landscapes, theatre and so on. The more creative the nation branding is in using these cultural aspects in attracting clients, the better the image the country builds in the eyes of people from all around the globe. By promoting their cultural products abroad, creative companies automatically promote their country and in recognising the creative economy of a country, one automatically recognises its culture.

An illustrative example of collaboration between an American company and a Chinese one is that of China Eastern Airlines and Disney Destinations International working together to promote Disney properties, including Shanghai Disney Resort that will open in late 2015. Being an internationally famous brand, this new Disney resort is meant to attract tourists to China, to put China on the map of important touristic sites, but more than that, its presence is also an indicator of how much relations between China and the USA have evolved in the past years with much help from the private sector as well. A similar example of cultural diplomacy in action is the life-sized replica of Titanic that will be built in a theme park in Sichuan, despite being a western symbol and having little to do with China. For Seven Star Energy Investment Group the aim is to attract tourists to their park, and thus to China, from all over the world by using this world famous symbol - a British ship that sank on its way to America.

China, Japan, Korea are also famous for their innovative technology; Japanese robots, Chinese trains and Korean smart phones (Samsung) are as much a symbol of these countries as any other tourist sites or traditions.

Because creative economies focus on people and culture as their main resources, they tend to be more multinational and international, they appreciate people for their skills and talents, independent of their nationality, they are more flexible in choosing their locations and indirectly bringing economic and social development to areas in different countries. Creativity is the universal language that transcends national borders and unites people in their passion for the new and the original, for culture and innovation.

Nation branding

Nation branding strategies are substantial to highlight how countries implement their cultural diplomacy. The core of these strategies is to promote the image of a country abroad and to shape its reputation through its identity and its cultural heritage in order to be attractive, for foreign investors, tourists, students, workers and so on. Thus, nation’s brand has to be understood through the projects that a country initiates but also through the reception of these projects by the public opinion (Anholt).

East Asia is a powerful economic region. Generally speaking and in spite of disparities, East Asian countries do have means to invest in brand campaigns. Japan is illustrative having numerous embassies and a well established cultural policy through the Agency for cultural affairs. In 2012, Japan was 6th according to the Nation Brand Index created by S. Anholt who developed the concept of nation branding. The government launched a large brand’s campaign in 2002 under the name “Cool Japan” followed by the official tourism campaign “Yosoko Japan”. The tragic tsunami and Fukushima’s disaster was a challenge for Japanese’s brand. According to Nancy Snow, a global expert on nation brand, Japanese resilience after 3/11 is part of its brand. Moreover, hosting the Olympic Games in 2020 will probably offer a good opportunity to demonstrate to the world that Japan has recovered and to promote again its cultural assets and heritage.

Even if Mongolia is far from the economic wealth of Japan, the government recognizes the importance of branding the nation. During the 2013’s Economic forum, N. Altankhyag, Mongolian Prime Minister, has expressed the wish that Mongolia develops its brand image and a "unique signature in the world market". He also underlines that Mongolia’s richness lies in tourism, cashmere and livestocks. In 2012, Mongolia cooperated with the United Nations World Tourism Organization in order to implement a strategy aimed to boost tourism. The government supports several tourism campaigns (visitmongolia, mongoliatourism, discover-bayanolgii, Pick up and Mongolia) mainly focused on the cultural heritage of Mongolia, including the nomadic heritage, and the natural richness of the country. Then, in January 2013, it approved official slogan for Mongolia's tourism called “Go Nomadic, Experience Mongolia”. Its cultural international presence is also insure by the Mongolian International film festival, created in 2011 and held successively in New Zeland, Mongolia and twice in the United States, which promotes Mongolian movies or films focused on Mongolian culture. It has reached new proportion since 2013 when the first Ulaabaatar Mongolia international film festival was held.

Conclusion

Cultural diplomacy in East Asian countries is stimulated through the support of both the private and public sectors. In general the private sector held a more prominent role in the establishment of successful cultural exchanges. Initiatives in the traditional realm of cultural diplomacy along with modernized areas of corporate responsibility, creative economics and nation-branding were able to establish and build on open dialogue, understanding and trust between different countries in this region.

In conclusion, social and economic bridges can be built through involvement in cultural diplomacy and ultimately reach reconciliation in historic conflicts and sustainable development.