Dr Safril
In collaboration with the Centre for Corporate and Community Development, UTAR Centre for International Studies hosted a global affair discussion series titled China’s Cultural Diplomacy in Southeast Asia: Indonesian Perspective on 24 February 2022 via Zoom. Centre for International Studies Chairperson Tan Wooi Yee moderated the talk. Invited to speak was Universitas Airlanggar lecturer Dr Safril Mubah from Indonesia. The webinar’s goal was to highlight China’s presence and influence play in Southeast Asia through the eyes of Indonesians.
Dr Safri presenting ASEAN’s top five trade partners
He began the talk by highlighting ASEAN’s top five trading partners.
According to him, China had been leading the pack over the last five years.
He also explained that China is a significant economic partner and its
influence in Southeast Asian countries had grown wide throughout the five
years.
Furthermore, Dr Safril stated that China’s power conduct can be classified
as hard, soft and sharp. The sources of hard power are its military and
security whereas its soft power is culture. China’s sharp power lies in
ideology. He also mentioned that the weapons for hard power were coercive
and diplomatic; the weapon for soft power was cultural diplomacy, and the
weapon for sharp power was manipulation.
In addition, he discussed China’s public diplomacy aspects, stating that
there are new channels for disseminating China’s official ideals for
regional order.
He then talked about the anti-China attitude in Indonesia. He emphasised the
reemergence of communists, ideology, the influx of Chinese migrant labour,
China’s suppression of Uyghurs, and China’s military ambition. As a result,
Indonesians regard the China declaration as unavoidable.
Finally, he stated that while China uses harsh power tactics towards its rivals, it prefers to employ soft power measures with its partner countries. The session came to a close with a group photograph.
Top row, second from left : Tan and Dr Safril with other participants
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