Florientalia, I China's public diplomacy. Between old propaganda and civil participation Tanina Zappone University of Rome “La Sapienza” tanina.zappone@gmail.com Abstract The ongoing debate on the development of China’s public diplomacy (gonggong waijiao 公共外交) is part of the reshaping of China’s international image as a global power. After discussing the definition of public diplomacy, a concept not yet well defined but adaptable to China’s foreign policy tradition, we present a preliminary analysis of the institutional framework, political background and main instruments of China’s public diplomacy. We take into account the criticisms and perplexities expressed in Western literature about the contradictions between China’s international communication through public diplomacy and its domestic and international political behavior. The aim of this article is to provide new insights and propose a preliminary analysis of Chinese academic literature on public diplomacy. The analysis demonstrates that, although the concept of public diplomacy tends to be linked to considerations on the enhancement of soft power and the building up of comprehensive national strength, the search for an effective and original pattern does not consist simply in importing Western models of communication, but implies evolutions in Chinese society, especially in terms of major openness and participation in the political life of the country. brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Institutional Research Information System University of Turin