Say “No” to U.S. Aircraft Carriers: Chinese Public Diplomacy Must Show Its Strength

The Americans have not revealed whether they intend to have aircraft carriers in the Yellow Sea. This piece of news has already caused unanimous disgust among the Chinese people, but at the same time everyone has also reached another consensus as well: the U.S. aircraft carriers will inevitably come and China has no option but to accept this reality. The majority of us don’t even seriously consider any other options, gauging the situation as we habitually do. In fact, it does not need to be this way.

Imagine, for a moment, that America was in China’s position. How many approaches would they have for opposing a position taken by another country? The U.S. has a great many sharp-tongued media outlets to issue loud challenges, there are members of Congress with rigorous schemes and careful calculations to submit proposals, and they also have the cooperation of an enormously complex yet very powerful public diplomatic army, which is made up of countless public groups, companies and organizations.

With regard to the Yellow Sea issue, however, China is in a bit of an awkward position. The official reaction clearly cannot be too strong, or else it could put China on the spot, and there could be a strategic conflict between China and the United States. But to do nothing, and to say nothing, will be a bitter pill for Chinese society to swallow, and the aircraft carriers will truly come, making the threat to Chinese security very real.

It will not be easy for China to find a suitable position to take between these two extremes. But we cannot take the easy way out and give up simply because it is difficult. We might as well use the Yellow Sea issue as a baptism for Chinese public diplomacy.

When one mentions public diplomacy, one thinks of promoting consensus, of constructive dialog, and other such notions. In fact, public diplomacy also has an aggressive side in terms of showing strength and shaping public opinion. If we use this aspect of diplomacy well, it could contribute to improved understanding among involved parties.

China has often fallen into this kind of predicament in recent years. As China’s national power has grown, the nation’s interests have also expanded, but trouble often spreads faster than diplomatic strength. This is because an increase in a nation’s power doesn’t automatically translate into increased tools for national diplomacy. Only if there are powerful channels of public diplomacy can this kind of transformation become complete.

Any government must use a soft touch in handling diplomatic crises, and radicalism is out of place in every nation’s foreign ministry. But among the people of China there is a power that should scare the governments of the United States and other Western powers. The Chinese people have contributed the hard currency that purchases America’s national debt, propping up numerous American companies responsible for the financial crisis. The U.S. has neither the reason nor the will to begrudge the needs of these Chinese people. We should create even more channels by which these needs can be fully voiced and admonish America. We should activate the brainpower of 1.3 billion people, encourage their enthusiasm, and put together a series of rational approaches that could genuinely prick the United States and make them feel the pain. We must toughen the people’s patriotism through real incidents — to shape their own experience in offense and defense — and thus become a force for strengthening Chinese diplomacy at a critical time.

We must recognize that for great countries like China and the United States, good relations are not necessarily friendly ones. This is the case even if what we want is impossible. China must speak out publicly and voice its own true ideas. The people should speak in a way that takes America to task. The people should also use non-governmental means to punish the U.S. for infringing upon our interests. America needs to get used to the candidness of the Chinese people and not be amazed when China gets tough. I’m afraid only this will make for better Chinese-American relations. In interacting with the United States, leave it to the people to probe the issue and take a stand. Perhaps the current Yellow Sea dispute is just such an opportunity.