China Policy Blog
China’s Soft Power Handicaps
 | Domestic problems such as poor product safety standards will effectively act as a rein on Beijing’s international soft power ambitions in the forseeable future, Yiyi LU, a research fellow at the China Policy Institute, writes in this blog post.* Sept 2, 2009 |
Grave product safety problems have repeatedly undermined Beijing’s effort to fashion a positive international image for China and build up its soft power. Many around the world still remember last year’s contaminated milk scandal. Now, reports of children in Shaanxi and Hunan provinces falling ill because of lead poisoning are likely to revive memories of previous international recalls of hazardous Chinese-made toys with high lead content.
While instances of shoddy products damaging China’s reputation are already well observed, the recent controversy over mainland China’s aid to Taiwan after Typhoon Morakot has shown another link between product safety and Beijing’s ability to wield soft power.
After the typhoon’s devastating effects became clear, the Mainland moved quickly to offer aid and assistance to Taiwan. Officials in the pro-independence region of southern Taiwan, however, declined the quick-assembly homes donated by the Mainland on the grounds that these homes might contain excessive levels of toxic chemicals. Although subsequent tests showed the goods products donated by the mainland to be safe, the bad reputation of Chinese products had apparently provided anti-China officials in Taiwan a convenient tool to resist Beijing’s charm offensive.
It is widely believed that China’s soft power has grown in tandem with its hard power in recent years. Not everybody welcomes this development. Plenty of people worry that the spread of Chinese soft power poses a threat. Such fears are premature. The Taiwan aid controversy has again demonstrated the vulnerability of China’s soft power.
In the foreseeable future, domestic problems such as poor product safety standards will effectively act as a rein on Beijing’s international soft power ambitions.
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