| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 外交研究所 === 98 === Soft Power is an attractive power of one state. Joseph S. Nye, Jr. explains the attraction as an invisible concept which makes both sides enjoy the “shared value,” and push one party to go along with the other’s purpose, then, the soft power is functional. Moreover, soft power can perform through its benign foreign policies when they seen as legitimate and having moral authority. Legitimacy means the institutions, and moral authority indicates the impression stirred by the tactics or the styles of foreign policies. This study adopts Nye’s soft power hypothesis as a framework to research the way China operates its soft power toward ASEAN, and the ultimate goal and effects it hopes to reach.
In fact, China’s soft power is affected by the experiences engaging with ASEAN during the Cold War. China manipulates its practical trades, functional aids, and investments, and it also uses the mutual benefits as a token to form the “shared value” with ASEAN, that time, the soft power works automatically. Still other relevant evidences present as announcement from China’s leaders toward ASEAN, memberships in international organizations, obedience to international laws, aids on public and civil diplomacy, and well-known help to 1997 East Asia financial storm, etc. All of these proper supports lead to ASEAN’s appreciation, and reflect china’s soft power has gained the harvest.
Even though China’s soft power toward ASEAN makes its own sense by now, in the long run, China’s soft power may sap due to its deviation from Nye’s definition. This study concludes that China should banish the fallacy which soft power completely roots in the foundation of hard power, and should improve the communication with ASEAN, then should develop its universal political values confirmed by the international society at last. Only in that approach can transform its soft power into a whole new tool, and can step forward to the next era.
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