The dialogue "ZHAO Qizheng：Public Diplomacy & Cross-Cultural Exchanges" of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2013 was held in Boao, south China's Hainan Province on April 7.[Photo/Xinhua]

At the dialogue of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2013 held from April 7-10 entitled "ZHAO Qizheng：Public Diplomacy & Cross-Cultural Exchanges", a lot of advice was given by experts from home and abroad to China on how to better communicate with the outside world. The insights deserve a careful review of what China has done in public diplomacy, especially in terms of Tibet and how it can do better.

In 2009, the concept of public diplomacy was introduced to China. Since then great efforts have been made in promoting public diplomacy through cultural exchanges, including activities to enhance Tibetan culture.

It is reported that from 2005 to 2010, altogether 36 performing arts troupes have given performances in 100 cities of 40 countries and regions.

In March 2011, a delegation of National People’s Congress paid a visit to Canada and the United States, informing the locals of what was happening in Tibet.

In November 2012, the Chinese Cultural Week was held in Warsaw, Poland. Paintings themed on "Magnificent Snowy Land", singing and dancing performances on "Glamorous Tibet" and Medical Exchanges on "Listening to Tibet" were held to showcase the rich and time-honored ethnic Tibetan culture and traditional customs as well as the social and economic changes in current Tibet.

On April 11, 2013, a cultural exchange delegation from Tibet conducted in-depth exchanges with Australian scholars on Tibet's environmental protection, according to Xinhua report.

However, to get the world to listen to China is still a big challenge. Mr. Robert Kuhn, chairman of the Kuhn Foundation and one of the panelists at the dialogue said, the biggest problem today is "Nobody is listening."

Fortunately, China has been persistent in adjusting its ways of communicating with the outside world, which has achieved some favorable results.

For example, in July 2012，the "Beauty of Tibet" Painting Exhibition organized by the China Tibet Online was held in Berlin and Hamburg of Germany respectively. The exhibition has played an active role in enhancing understanding of Tibetan culture and society through arts to the western audience.

Li Nianping, attaché of Chinese Embassy in Germany said at the opening ceremony, "Many German friends know little about Tibet for lack of information about it. And the best way to reduce misunderstanding is to know each other better."

A German artist was having a heated discussion with a Chinese artist at the "Beauty of Tibet" painting exhibition held in Hamburg, Germany, July 29. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

Kani Alavi, president of the East Side Gallery in Hamburg said the paintings of different styles displayed at the exhibition brought him a basic understanding of China's Tibet."

"It is a pity that such exhibition is rare in my country, so I hope China can organize more of its kind in the future and create opportunities for European and Chinese artists to communicate face to face," Kani Alavi added.

In this sense, public diplomacy can be more effective if topics of common interest between different peoples are found.

"Public diplomacy can remove many prejudices of western countries toward China in politics and ideology. And it gives more weight to the lifestyles," said Yu Dan, professor of Beijing Normal University.

According to Sun Ping, expert of China's public diplomacy, "the era of public diplomacy has arrived". However, most of the westerners do not know the real history of Tibet such as how the Tibetan serfs were liberated，but believe erroneously that 'Tibet was occupied by China and the Tibetan culture has been destroyed'. So China has a long way to go in telling the world the truth. Unfortunately, public diplomacy activities such as the "Beauty of Tibet" Painting Exhibition set up a platform to show the western world that the Tibetan people are now enjoying freedom than any other time in the history. The Tibetan culture, rather than “being destroyed”, has been well-preserved by the Chinese government.

Some westerners might hold on to the "hard rule" that news reporting should be more negative, but think that "China has reported too many achievements" instead of problems, according to our report on April 11. However, being faithful to facts should always be the universal principle of journalism.

Zhao Qizheng, initiator of the dialogue and former minister of China's State Council Information Office said, there are three barriers in China's public diplomacy-language, lifestyle and belief, among which the biggest is the belief. It is necessary to be aware that belief may not be religious belief, but cultural or many other kinds of beliefs. To get across the barrier，we should communicate and exchange ideas with other countries.

Robert Kuhn said that good stories can help China better interact with the rest of the world. To tell a real China can let the world start to know about China and start to believe in what it said.

A German couple is listening attentively to the explanations on the Tibet-themed paintings at the "Beauty of Tibet" Painiting Exhibition in Hambury, Germany, July 2012.[Photo/China Tibet Online]

Alistair Michie, chairman of 48 Countries Group pinpointed that China must avoid conducting one-way communication and it should not be so direct. On the contrary, it should learn to cater to the need of the audience, which has been a practice outside China for years.

"The techniques are very important. You have to understand what the audience is thinking about," according to our previous report on April 11.

Therefore, the Boao forum has given impetus to improving China's way of communications with the rest of the world，especially in terms of Tibet. And it is good to see that China has started to use this platform to let the world listen to what it says about Tibet.