What is it about?
Sport diplomatic relations between high-ranking party-state actors in the People’s Republic of China and foreign actors in sport have intensified significantly in recent years. The Chinese political centre under the leadership of Xi Jinping wants to transform the country into a “powerful sports nation” (体育强国, tiyu qiangguo). At the same time, China is seen as an important (future) market by many international actors in sport. The purpose of this research article is to retrospectively trace, understand and explain the interactions between Chinese political and foreign socio-economic actors with regard to the policy field of sport in the Xi Jinping era. Drawing on the interaction-oriented policy research of Renate Mayntz and Fritz W. Scharpf, it is argued that the analytical concept of political steering is suitable for examining such reactions and interactions between actors. The case-centred qualitative research method of “explaining-outcome process tracing” was chosen for this study to investigate interactions between the Chinese party-state and the German Football Association with regard to the thematic focus on Tibet.
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Why is it important?
The findings show that research on sport diplomacy cannot only demonstrate how the deliberate use of sport can strengthen international relations, especially when it comes to addressing particularly “estranged relations between peoples, nations and states”, but also that corresponding interactions between different actors at the international level can shed light on how far this “estrangement” has already progressed, leaving the actors involved rather perplexed.
Perspectives
The article seeks to provide a nuanced analysis of the limitations inherent in the application of sport diplomacy between the European Union and China, focusing on the period of Xi Jinping's leadership. Contrary to the intentions of promoting mutual understanding, reducing conflict and achieving foreign policy and sport-specific development goals, the partnership has achieved diametrically opposite results. Not only did the diplomatic initiative fail to achieve its stated goals, it also culminated in financial disappointment for the DFB. The article argues that the failure was precipitated by contentious interactions, such as the Tibet flag scandal during a friendly match involving the Chinese U-20 men's national football team in Germany. This incident led to political steering actions on the part of the Chinese, resulting in the suspension of cooperation. Moreover, the article suggests that the framework of political steering could offer an alternative conceptual approach to soft power, particularly for understanding the dynamics between different international actors seeking to influence each other's behaviour or action orientations. The paper concludes by arguing for further research to explore other contentious interactions involving Chinese political actors in the international sports domain.
Dr. Ilker Gündogan
Ruhr-Universitat Bochum
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Where good intentions fail, Sports law policy & diplomacy journal, January 2023, University of Rijeka Faculty of Law,
DOI: 10.30925/slpdj.1.1.4.
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