TTLV: China's soft power strategy in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty

1. Student's full name: Nguyen Tuan Anh 2. Gender: Male

3. Date of birth: February 27, 1984

4. Place of birth: Hai Ba Chung, Hanoi

5. Decision on recognition of students No. 4295/2016/QD-XHNV-DT, dated December 16, 2017 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

6. Changes in the training process:

(record the forms of change and the corresponding time)

7. Thesis topic: China's soft power strategy in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty

8. Major:International Relations; Code: 60 31 02 06

9. Scientific advisor: Dr. Pham Duc Anh, Deputy Head of Science and Technology Department, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

10. Summary of thesis results:

This topic is the first topic to study the “soft power” of the Chinese people in the Eastern Zhou period in order to understand the methods and thinking of how China used this power in history, thereby better understanding China’s current strategy of using soft power because modern China’s soft power is an inheritance and development from the past. Researching this issue helps Vietnam have a basis to draw lessons in dealing with China’s soft power as well as in building and deploying Vietnam’s soft power.

The topic points out: in China, during the Eastern Zhou period, the concept of soft power had not yet become a theory, and countries were not even aware of this type of power. However, the topic also points out: The Eastern Zhou period is the earliest period in history where there are evidences and signs of the formation, construction and development of the strategy of using soft power of the Chinese people. Although not clearly named soft power as it is today, many strategies of countries with the purpose of building and deploying soft power have become popular and effective, and the value of those strategies has even been inherited, developed and used by China to this day.

The topic points out some methods and measures that China is currently using, which are inherited and developed from the strategies of using soft power from the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, with the aim of enhancing China's soft power both domestically and internationally. For Vietnam, China increases soft power through main tools such as popularizing culture, enhancing public diplomacy, building Confucius Institutes, using economic aid with political conditions... This creates many opportunities for Vietnam, but also brings many difficulties and challenges in all areas, from politics, security to economy and culture.

The topic shows that Vietnam is significantly affected by China's soft power. Therefore, Vietnam needs to build a sustainable roadmap with a long-term, consistent vision, suitable for the characteristics and conditions in the country and in relation to neighboring countries, in the region and in the world to respond to and limit the negative impacts caused by China's deployment of soft power. In addition, Vietnam should also seize the opportunity to build and comprehensively develop soft power as a resource to increase goodwill, international attractiveness and the ability to protect national interests in the areas of territorial sovereignty, political, economic and cultural sovereignty.

11. Practical applicability: Providing scientific arguments to contribute to building a strategy to prevent the negative impacts of China's soft power as well as building a strategy to use Vietnam's soft power, contributing to the cause of building and defending the country.

12. Further research directions: The development of theory and ideology on the use of soft power in China from ancient to modern times; solutions for effective use of soft power in Vietnam in the current period.

INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS

1. Full name: NGUYEN TUAN ANH. 2. Sex: Male

3. Date of birth: February 27, 1984 4. Place of birth: Hanoi.

5. Admission decision number: 4295/2016/QD-XHNV-ĐT Dated: December 16, 2017.

6. Changes in academic process: none

(List the forms of change and corresponding times)

7. Official thesis title: China's strategy of using soft power in the Eastern Zhou period

8. Major: International Relations 9. Code:60 31 02 06

10. SupervisorsDr. Pham Duc Anh, Deputy Director, Department of Science & Technology,
Vietnam National University, Hanoi

11. Summary of the findings of the thesis:

This is the first study done on the “soft power” of the Chinese people in the Eastern Zhou period in order to understand the method and the thinking on how this power was used by China. Since modern Chinese soft power is inherited and promoted from the past, this study helps clarify China's current strategy of using soft power. Studying this issue also gives Vietnam a basis to draw lessons in dealing with China's soft power as well as in building and deploying its soft power.

The study shows that: in China, during the Eastern Zhou period, the concept of soft power had not become an official theory, even countries had not been aware of this kind of power. However, the study also points out: the Eastern Zhou period was the oldest time in history where there were evidences and signs of the formation, construction and development of the soft power strategy of the Chinese people. Despite not being named soft power as it is today, many countries' strategies of building and deploying soft power have become popularized and proved effective. Even the value of such strategies have been inherited, developed and used by China to this day.

The study shows that a number of measures that China is currently using to boost its soft power in foreign and domestic affairs are automatically developed the Eastern Zhou period, with the purpose to enhance the soft power of China in both domestic and foreign affairs. For Vietnam, China applies its soft power through such key tools as cultural popularization, public diplomacy strengthening, establishing Confucius Institute, and using economic aid accompanying with key political conditions. This not only creates numerous opportunities for Vietnam, but also poses various difficulties and challenges in all fields, from politics, security to economy and culture.

The study also points out that Vietnam is considerably influenced by China's soft power. Therefore, Vietnam needs to build a sustainable roadmap with a long-term and transparent vision, consistent with the characteristics and conditions of the country. Vietnam should develop its roadmap while considering the relations with neighboring countries and those in the region and the world in order to deal with and limit the negative effects of China's soft power. In addition, Vietnam should also seize any opportunities to comprehensively build and develop its soft power to enable itself to protect national interests in various fields such as territorial sovereignty, politics, economy and cultural sovereignty.

12. Practical applicability, if any:

Providing scientific grounding to contribute to building a strategy to prevent the negative impacts of China's soft power as well as building a strategy to use Vietnam's soft power, making contributions to the cause of national construction and defense.

13. Further research directions, if any:

The development of Chinese theory and ideology using soft power from ancient times to modern times; effective solutions for Vietnam to use soft power in the current period

14. Thesis-related publications: none