From External Propaganda to Mediated Public Diplomacy: The Construction of the Chinese Dream in President Xi Jinping’s New Year Speeches

Manifested by China’s increasing influence and importance, the emergence of a hetero-polar world is one of the main drivers of uncertainty within the realm of international relations. Looking for ways to manage this process, the Chinese state has adopted marketing strategies such as branding in proactive propaganda which constitutes a major part of China’s internal and external political communication. The advancement of key political policies often involves systematic branding collaborations between government bodies, media (consisting of both state-controlled and commercial media, across traditional and social media platforms) and the cultural industries. This chapter theorises the success and failure of the Chinese Dream as mediated public diplomacy. We analyse the metanarrative of the Chinese Dream and the it multimodal construction across six Presidential new year speeches and argue that the successful application of the ‘Chinese Dream’ depends on the cultural congruency established by the American Dream and a range of convergent media strategies. The Chinese Dream is the continuation of formal diplomacy while incorporating various grassroots nationalistic expressions. Convergent state-controlled media and Western social media platforms have been employed to reach foreign populations and disseminate positive cultural messages from China, aiming to foster favourable opinions about the country’s continuing prosperity. Finally, a distinct ‘friend vs foe’ dichotomy within the new year speeches is used to attract foreign nations based on shared values and common beliefs. Simultaneously though, it is also a potential trigger for diplomatic uncertainties signalling tensions and conflicts