THE SILK ROUTE OF HEALTH AND CHINESE SOFT POWER IN THE LIGHT OF SARS-CoV-2

ABSTRACT

This article aims to explain the use of soft power by the People's Republic of China (PRC) by taking the so-called "panda diplomacy" and glob-al health diplomacy as examples. Using the deductive method and the sup-port of a theoretical apparatus based on the analysis of soft power by Chinese scholars, the authors discuss the strategies Beijing uses to "win the minds and hearts" of the international community and mitigate the perception of the "Chinese threat" generated by multiple factors, including the current pan-demic caused by sARs-Cov-2. The article concludes that through panda diplo-macy and global health diplomacy, the PRC has succeeded in these goals and is likely to continue to use its soft power to position itself as a great power in the 21st century.