"BRAND CHINA" IN THE OLYMPIC CONTEXT COMMUNICATIONS CHALLENGES OF CHINA'S SOFT POWER INITIATIVE

The Beijing 2008 Olympics were widely considered to be China's moment for improving its national image worldwide. However, the consensus both inside and outside China was that although the Olympics succeeded in advancing an image of an emerging powerful, prosperous, and well-organised nation, the message was hijacked by interest groups critical of government policies on human rights and Tibet, who were more successful in putting forward their positions in the international media than the Chinese government was. The article analyses the communications challenges that created obstacles for genuine dialogue on sensitive issues. In its post-Olympics assessment, the Chinese government acknowledged the weakness of China's voice in international (especially Western) media and responded with a planned US$6 billion investment for strengthening its foreign communications capacity as part of its "soft power" initiative (first called for by President Hu Jintao in 2007).