China Soft Power Through Silk Road Diplomacy in Kazakhstan.

Byline: Ahmed Bux Jamali

Joseph Nye has well-defined Soft Power as a form of noncoercive influence which has the effect of "getting others to want the results that you want" through the ability to attract which leads to compliance. Soft power originates not only from the ideational and normative orientation of the state, but also from the engagement of civil society and non-state actors such as universities, educational and charitable foundations, religious and cultural institutions, NGOs, business, and commercial interests by defining their vision and bringing it to execution.

China enjoys a significant geopolitical power for projecting its influence through its vast territory and huge population; a qualified labor force, a large middle class and high number of professionals, natural resources, production capacity, military forces, a unified political system, a strong cultural tradition, and political stability.

Silk Road Economic Belt and Belt and Road initiatives are highly crucial element of "China's Dream," initiated by President Xi Jinping. It leads to revitalize domestic support for the material production capacity and thus further verify to legitimacy of the leadership of the CPC. Resultantly welcoming substantial economic reforms that will bring the vision of regional development through rebuilding infrastructure and considerable prosperity along the route. At the international level, meanwhile, BRI is a narrative of China's peaceful model of growth and development.

China's Public Diplomacy through BRI in Kazakhstan In unveiling the Silk Road and Economic Belt in Astana and emphasizing deep historical contacts between Kazakhs and Chinese, China has also invented connections and linkages that did not exist. President Xi Jinping dated the establishment of close ties between the two peoples to 2,100 years ago during the Han dynasty when Chinese envoy Zhang Qian was twice sent to Central Asia with a message of peace and friendship. His journeys are pronounced as opening the door to friendly contacts between China and Central Asian countries along the Silk Road that links East and West, Asia and Europe. He also referred to Almaty as the "ancient city,".

China has long since replaced Russia as the number one trading partner of Kazakhstan and the other Central Asian states. When President Xi Jinping revealed BRI, trade between Kazakhstan and China valued to US$28.9 billion whereas with Russia it was US$23.5 billion. China is the largest...