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Assessing the Dimension of Romania's Public Diplomacy in China: "Treasures of Romania" in Beijing and Chengdu

Abstract

This article assesses the dimension of Romanian public diplomacy in China through a particular study case that revolves around an art exhibition entitled "Treasures of Romania". Presented in 2016, in Beijing and Chengdu, the exhibition featured over 400 artifacts that have never been presented abroad before, and was organized under the auspices of a bilateral government project aimed at increasing cultural cooperation and exchange between Romania and China. A similar exhibition, labeled "Treasures of China", has been previously inaugurated in Bucharest, in 2013, under the same government project. The narrative of this article, firstly, debates some generic trends in public diplomacy as revealed by emerging theories, current ideas pertaining to the specialized scholarship realm and factual functions that confine this diplomatic practice. Secondly, the narrative shifts to create a climax that analyzes "Treasures of Romania" in Beijing and Chengdu, the implications and results attained. Lastly, it reflects on some potential orientations regarding the practice of Romanian public diplomacy and, more broadly, on the theoretical orientations that could reveal vectors towards concretizing the spectrum of public diplomacy in international foreign affairs. Summarizing the aspects that are coercive to the practice of Romanian public diplomacy, this article imperatively observes that public diplomacy is identical to cultural diplomacy. Thus, this undefined boundary creates synopsis for alteration of the theoretical understanding of public diplomacy in a Romanian context, while the analysis provided throughout this article reveals that perturbation affects the extrinsic and intrinsic results that public diplomacy could achieve. Beyond the political significances of such endeavors, the emphasis of this article is closely related to the empiricisms of the exhibitions, through content analysis, compilation of data and process tracing.

Florina Lepadatu

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