Public Diplomacy and Protection of China’s Overseas Interests: Theoretical Exposition and Research Agenda

陈维 【摘要】党的十八大报告多次强调海外利益保护，并首次提出“我们将扎实推进公共外交和人文交流，维护我国海外合法权益”，这是对我国现阶段公共外交目标的明确界定。本文尝试在界定中国海外利益的分类和特征的基础上，梳理公共外交与海外利益保护之间的逻辑关系，指出国家形象不是公共外交的目的，而是通过公共外交实现中国海外利益保护的重要手段。要实现海外利益保护的战略目标，在理论上应当区分国家形象的四个向度，即可信度、合法性、美誉度和吸引力，使之分别对应海外安全利益、海外政治利益、海外经济利益和海外文化利益的保护，并在实际操作中有不同侧重，进而提出公共外交与中国海外利益保护的研究议程。 The Chinese Communist Party’s 18th Congress report repeatedly emphasizes the issue of the protection of overseas interests and for the first time raises the claim that “we will push for public diplomacy and cultural exchanges and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of our country overseas” which is a clear definition of the objectives of China’s public diplomacy at current stage. This paper attempts to clarify the logical relationship between public diplomacy and the protection of overseas interests by defining the classification and the characteristics of China’s overseas interests. This paper then argues that China’s public diplomacy is facilitating the protection of China’s overseas interests rather than shaping national image. To achieve the strategic goal of protecting the interests overseas, in theory, the national image should include four dimensions, namely credibility, legitimacy, reputation and attractiveness, each of which is concerned with China’s overseas security interests, political interests, economic interests and cultural interests. In practice, different dimensions should be given different degrees of investment and effort, and the research agenda of public diplomacy and the protection of China’s overseas interests should then be advanced