Esports Diplomacy in China

Paper final presentado el en marco del Seminario Awakening China? Deconstructing Chinese Foreign Policy dictado por Federico Verly. Esports Diplomacy in China. Furrer, Micaela. Cita: Furrer, Micaela (2020). Esports Diplomacy in China. Paper final presentado el en marco del Seminario Awakening China? Deconstructing Chinese Foreign Policy dictado por Federico Verly. Dirección estable: https://www.aacademica.org/micaela.furrer/2 Esta obra está bajo una licencia de Creative Commons. Para ver una copia de esta licencia, visite https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.es. Acta Académica es un proyecto académico sin fines de lucro enmarcado en la iniciativa de acceso abierto. Acta Académica fue creado para facilitar a investigadores de todo el mundo el compartir su producción académica. Para crear un perfil gratuitamente o acceder a otros trabajos visite: https://www.aacademica.org. Micaela Furrer Chinese Esports Diplomacy Introduction The position of China in the world has undoubtedly shifted over the years. Today, talking about China means talking about a giant: the most populated country in the world and the second largest economy, a rival to the US, a key agent in international relations, and home to some of the best eSports teams in the world. The growth of Chinese economy in the last years has been so impressive that it is often referred to as the “Chinese Miracle” in foreign media. However, these changes in its economy and in its international role have also meant the need for China to transform its foreign policy approach. Under Xi Jinping’s leadership since 2012, this transformation was christened ‘major country diplomacy’, which was aimed at re-claiming China’s title as a “great power” and achieving the “Chinese Dream” (Kang, 2017:122) described by Xi as “the Chinese people’s recognition and pursuit of values, the building of China into a well-off society in an all-round way and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” (Xinhua 2014). In turn, this has also led to further development of the country’s public diplomacy and its instruments. Much like Chinese economy, the industry of competitive gaming, also known as eSports, has seen an exponential growth in the global market as of the last years. Coincidentally, one of the top consumers and developers of this industry is China: according to Niko Partners, a specialized website on research and analysis of the video games markets and consumers in Asia, there are approximately 720 million gamers in China today. There is evidence that suggests the connections between this industry and the Asian giant can be viewed through the lens of international relations and foreign policy, beyond the sphere of economy and business. In a more specific way, we will be assessing its role in Chinese public diplomacy. Theoretical frameworks To begin with, we will first look into the theoretical frameworks that have been developed and will be taken into account for this analysis regarding Chinese approach to public diplomacy. The definition of public diplomacy, as we will see, fluctuates constantly and it is deeply related to each country’s approach in specific. The general consensus is that it differs from traditional diplomacy in that it is aimed at non-governmental publics. Ingrid d’Hooghe suggests two ways of understanding the concept of public diplomacy; the first one refers to a traditional model, in which the state—often the foreign ministry— is the one that monitors the interactions between domestic and international policy environments, while people are seen as targets and instruments of foreign policy, and the effort is on targeting them more effectively. Meanwhile, the second one refers to a ‘new’ public diplomacy model that involves a wide variety of actors and promotes dialog and collaboration (d’Hooghe, 2015:18). According to Jan Melissen this means that, aside from the state, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and other non-state actors are are involved in creating 1 public diplomacy messages that will be considered more legitimate and credible than those developed by state actors, and will therefore more easily appeal to a broad audience (Melissen, 2015:5). d’Hooghe also adds that, in practice, most countries’ public diplomacy can be considered a combination of state-centered and network-based public diplomacy, a hybrid model in which state actors initiate public diplomacy actions but also later cooperate with non-state actors. These actions seek to achieve support for a policy or to promote an image, as well as to develop dialogs and build relationships in order to enhance understanding and co-create solutions to transnational problems (d’Hooghe, 2015:21). Public diplomacy is also closely related to Joseph Nye’s concept of soft power, which is defined as the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payment, (Nye, 2004:X) or as Nye later elaborated, the ability to affect others through the co-optive means of framing the agenda, persuading, and eliciting positive attraction in order to obtain preferred outcomes (Nye, 2011:13). According to the author, public diplomacy is a tool that may wield or generate soft power, by linking soft power resources to preferred outcomes (Nye, 2011:100-109). Such resources include culture, values, legitimate policies, a positive domestic model, successful economy and a capable military, some of which can also be a source of hard power, as is the case of a strong economy and a capable military when used to impose sanctions or force. As noted by d’Hooghe, having hard power resources, can also help countries in wielding their soft power (d’Hooghe, 2015:24): we will later see how Chinese vast economic resources have helped the country develop public diplomacy instruments. In order to analyse how eSports can be understood in relation to China’s public diplomacy we will also take into account d’Hooghe’s categorization of the public diplomacy instruments. First, we will look into the media, which consists of traditional media—news- papers, journals, television and radio—and social or new media such as the internet (websites, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook) and mobile phone technologies. Secondly, events, which can be small-scale and large- scale cultural and sporting events, like the Olympic Games and World Expositions. Thirdly, strategic communication projects, using a combination of tools including media, publications, seminars and branding activities. Fourthly, people and institutions: exchanges (student exchanges and visitor programs), network meetings (academic networks and epistemic communities), twinning relations and city- or provincial-level exchanges, as well as cultural exchanges and tourist). Finally, publications or promotional materials, such as books, brochures and video clips (d’Hooghe, 2015:38). In this way, we will see how a resource like a prominent place in competitive gaming has been promoted through different instruments, and helped Chinese public image abroad. Chinese Esports Government involvement Before analysing Chinese eSports in the media, we need to take into account that many of the instruments mentioned above are state-controlled by the Chinese Government. Therefore, 2 promotion of local teams and players through these means suggests that the government itself, in this case, considers that esports are not harmful in any way or even beneficial to the country’s image abroad. Moreover, other official initiatives also support this argument, those related to the policies that affect the industry in China, government funding and the legal status of the sport. The works of Boris Pun, Yiyi Yin, and Anthony Fung (2019), Esports Gamers in China; and Zhouxiang Lu (2017), From E-Heroin to E-Sports: The Development of Competitive Gaming in China both provide a detailed account of the historical development of competitive gaming in the country. Both suggest that the Chinese Government position towards this sport has been contradictory and changing throughout the years. Today Chinese gamers are known to excel mostly at PC multiplayer games, like the world-famous League of Legends and mobile games, like King of Glory, but they don’t consume as much console games. The reasons behind this lies, partly, on the fact that foreign consoles were simply unaffordable for the average Chinese when they first entered the country, and that instead many preferred pirated hardware and software; but also, on the restrictions put forth by the government ever since the 2000s due to the belief that these devices had negative effects on the mental and physical development of children. As a consequence, the PC games became more popular, and several internet cafes, or wangba (网吧) opened in cities around the country. According to Lu (2017:8) these places were “regarded as the fruit of modernization and industrialization and therefore were welcomed by the government.” They also gave birth not only in China but also in South Korea to a generation of highly skilled players of Starcraft and other games in the 90s that would later compete in local and international tournaments. Lu (2017:11) also suggests that “based on the example of South Korea, where the competitive gaming industry was officially backed by the government to facilitate the development of the IT industry and boost the economy, the Chinese Government showed a supportive stance towards e-sports.” An example of this mentioned by the author is the 2003 documentary about the WCG (World Cyber Games), broadcasted by China Central Television (CCTV). In it,

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