疫情危機下的中國數位外交

China’s Digital Diplomacy during the COVID-19 Crisis

林育全(Yu-Chuan Lin)

指導教授 ： 童涵浦

國立臺灣大學/社會科學院/政治學研究所/碩士(2022年)

https://doi.org/10.6342/NTU202201436

摘要

2020年初新冠疫情（COVID-19）爆發，造成史無前例的全球傳播，其衝擊與影響至今，不但使大國紛紛重視口罩外交與疫苗外交等醫療外交概念以強化其形象與影響力外，亦使數位網路在後疫情時代下的外交角色更備受重視。雖然疫苗外交近來已引起媒體與學術圈高度討論，但其研究多聚焦於各國實踐動機與目標，與公眾外交概念的對話以及相關的實證研究尚顯不足，尤其當中國在疫情期間遭受最嚴重的質疑與批評，更凸顯中國公眾外交領域研究的缺乏。

本研究首先釐清公眾外交、數位外交的定義與關係，接著討論醫療外交與疫苗外交的概念發展，分別聚焦於中國的理解思維與實踐，主張中國的對外政策原則具有其延續性，但也在習近平上台後展現不同樣貌。
在理論探討後，本研究將以大數據蒐集方式，系統性地針對中國外交部門在疫情期間的對外論述進行分析，證實中國在疫情下的數位外交仍以內宣為主，外宣為輔的政策實踐，而在外宣方面，則以對外援助的議題最能引起迴響。

最後，本研究透過社會網絡分析探究中國疫苗外交的成效，不僅發現中國在數位外交領域組建的統一戰線網絡，亦利用實證方式確認中國疫苗在全球輿論的形象，其實並非一面倒地受到批評與質疑，而係呈現正負態度相互對壘的情勢，顯示中國與西方軟實力勢均力敵的競爭態勢，疫苗外交則僅作為雙方軟實力動態競爭的一部分。

關鍵字

數位外交 ； 疫苗外交 ； 新冠疫情 ； 輿論網絡

並列摘要

The COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020 triggered an unprecedented spread worldwide. Its impact has made major countries attach importance to medical diplomacy concepts such as mask diplomacy and vaccine diplomacy so as to strengthen their image and influence. In the meantime, it has also made the diplomatic role of digital networks in the post-pandemic era more significant. Although vaccine diplomacy has been highly studied in the media and academic circles recently, its related studies mostly focus on the practical motives and goals of various countries. The dialogue with public diplomacy and vaccine diplomacy as well as related empirical research are still insufficient. In particular, when China has been most seriously questioned and criticized during the pandemic, the scarcity of explorations in the field of Chinese public diplomacy is even highlighted.

This study firstly sorts out the definitions of public diplomacy and digital diplomacy, and the relationship between the two. Furthermore, it probes into the conceptual development of medical diplomacy and vaccine diplomacy, and then focuses on China's thinking and practice respectively. This research holds that China's foreign policy principles present the feature of continuity and also reveal different characteristics after Xi Jinping takes office.

After the theoretical discussions, this study systematically analyzes the foreign statements made by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the pandemic by collecting big data. It demonstrates that China's digital diplomacy under the pandemic is still a policy practice of giving priority to internal publicity, supplemented by external publicity. In terms of external publicity, the topic of China’s foreign aid is the most heated one.

Finally, this study explores the effectiveness of China's vaccine diplomacy through social network analysis, discovers the united front network established by China in the field of digital diplomacy, and uses empirical research to verify the image of China's vaccine in the global public opinion. In fact, instead of being criticized and questioned thoroughly, there are both positive and negative attitudes. The result of this study demonstrates a close competition for soft power between China and western countries. And vaccine diplomacy is just a part of this dynamic competition.

並列關鍵字

digital diplomacy ； vaccine diplomacy ； COVID-19 ； network analysis

參考文獻

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