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The Public Diplomacy Blog is intended to stimulate dialog among scholars, researchers, practitioners and professionals from around the world in the public diplomacy sphere. The opinions represented here are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the USC Center on Public Diplomacy at the Annenberg School.

Posts by Peter_Herford

THE “BATTLE” OF THE TAIWAN STRAITS
JUN 28, 2006 - 10:36PM PST
Posted by Peter Herford
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Without firing a shot, China is winning its "war" to gain de facto incorporation of Taiwan into the mainland orbit. That's a tortuous way of saying that it may not be long until Taiwan is no longer a de facto state.

Beijing's strategy is instructive.

There are only 26 countries left in the world that accord Taiwan full diplomatic recognition as a "nation."

How many can you name?

How many do you recognize?

In the Asia-Pacific region the nations recognizing Taiwan are: The Solomon Islands, The Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Palau and Kiribati.

Kiribati is an interesting case in point, and... FULL TEXT
 
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HU JINTAO’S U.S. VISIT HIGHLIGHTS DEBT AND DIPLOMACY
JUN 20, 2006 - 7:51PM PST
Posted by Peter Herford
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Do you remember Hu Jintao's April 2006 visit to Washington, D.C?

If you watched any of the news coverage on television you likely bring to mind the image of a Falun Gong protester and other odd faux pas. What received less attention were the circumstances surrounding the visit.

The visit began weeks before the Chinese President and Party leader arrived. Chinese Vice Minister Wu Yi dropped in on the White House before the visit to be reassured that Washington supports the one-China policy of the mainland. Lest anyone have any illusions, "one-China policy" means that Taiwan is considered a province... FULL TEXT
 
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CHINA TAPS NEWS MEDIA, RESTRICTS INTERNET AS P.D. TOOLS DURING DISPUTE WITH JAPAN
APR 27, 2005 - 3:50PM PST
Posted by Peter Herford
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Two recent developments in China point to the tools of media and public opinion control available to the Chinese government and how they are used.

Most recently, Japan-China relations have deteriorated on the heels of an old dilemma: How Japan handles history.

In 1937-38 during the war between China and Japan, Nanjing was the scene of a genocidal slaughter of about 300,000 Chinese. It was hardly a secret. Many nations condemned the event. The Japanese, hardly beloved after their invasion of Manchuria in 1931, were reviled. What has come to be known as the Rape of Nanjing has never been... FULL TEXT
 
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FOLLOW THE MONEY: IS TAIWAN ALREADY THE NEW HONG KONG?
APR 19, 2005 - 3:54PM PST
Posted by Peter Herford
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In China there’s been a year’s worth of growth in the few months since my last dispatch.

You name it, and it has grown in China. Some examples: the Chinese trade surplus, the Chinese trade surplus with the U.S., and the Chinese trade balance with the rest of Asia, which has gone from deficit to surplus.

The numbers are staggering. Just a few months ago I wrote, “China herself is a debtor in much of the rest of the world. Particularly in Asia.” True then. Wrong now. About the only deficit remaining for the Chinese is with their Middle Eastern... FULL TEXT
 
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PRC LESS CRITICAL OF US THAN MANY COUNTRIES; IT’S ALL ABOUT THE ALMIGHTY YUAN
JAN 14, 2005 - 3:58PM PST
Posted by Peter Herford
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China, is an excellent example of the complexity of the American image abroad. U.S. China relations are intertwined at every level of politics, economics, and society and becoming more so daily.

Let me put this in a factual context.

China is now the seventh largest economy in the world. Within five years it is likely to be the fourth largest.

China is already the third largest automobile market in the world behind the U.S. and Japan, having just passed Germany. But most important, and likely what you read about most is the debtor-creditor relationship between the U.S. and China. A... FULL TEXT
 
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