Beijing blasts Western critics who ‘smear China’ with the term sharp power
Advisory body spokesman says some Westerners are ‘stuck in the cold war era’
Beijing issued a harsh rebuke of Western critics who accuse China of using soft power as a vehicle to infiltrate other countries, as it kicked off its biggest political event of the year on Friday.
The country’s top advisory body, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, hit out against depictions of its campaign to build a positive global image as “sharp power”, a term describing the way authoritarian states project influence abroad.
“It is not the first time that people have tried to smear China, and it will not be the last time,” Wang Guoqing, CPPCC spokesman, said at a briefing in Beijing ahead of the opening of its annual session on Saturday.
“When other countries engage in cultural exchanges, they are showing soft or smart power, but when it comes to China, it’s sharp power with motives.
“It is natural that we want to showcase our own image. Sadly, some Westerners may have physically entered the 21st century, but their mindset remains stuck in the cold war era.”
