Can China do soft power? Poorly organised yet tightly controlled forum raises questions
- Major diplomatic conference lacked a clear schedule and sufficient content, some attendees complain
- Tight media control meanwhile made it difficult for China to project openness, a theme at the belt and road event
Traffic woes, poor organisation and tight media control during China’s most important diplomatic event of the year have again raised questions over its ability to project soft power.
Lack of a clear schedule often left attendees either waiting for hours on end or scrambling to catch up after an event started suddenly. One delegate from a European country complained that the forum was chaotic, saying there was no clear agenda provided – only a schedule giving time slots for speakers.
A person familiar with the forum’s administration said “the lack of organisation even from the Chinese side seemed very obvious”. They added that Chinese officials had been told not to speak to any media organisations about arrangements for the Belt and Road Forum throughout the event.
As well as the lack of information, Beijing’s tight media control has hurt attempts to show openness to the rest of the world. Domestic media were told by the propaganda department they could not comment on sensitive issues such as China’s trade war with the United States while the event was on.
Beijing’s second forum on its global trade and infrastructure strategy was attended by heads of state, along with 5,000 other representatives from 150 countries. But some of those who took part said the forum lacked sufficient content on its first and last day. In fact on the first day, only smaller panel discussions took place and they were “very general”, according to a Chinese participant.
