China's soft power in East Asia: an estimation based on the outcome of surveys of six countries

China, a regional power that has rapidly risen through economic growth and a strengthened military, regards the enhancement of its soft power as being key to its rise as an Asian leader and ultimately as a major world power. Yet, China's soft power in the region remains at a low level compared to its hard power. In fact, China's soft-power level in the region is not only lower than that of the United States and Japan, with which it is competing for hegemony, but even that of South Korea. Accordingly, China's hard-power rise in the region has been viewed by neighboring nations as uncomfortable and even intimidating, giving rise to the prevalence of the oChina-threat theory.o To emerge as a major leader, based on a combination of hard and soft power in East Asia, China must enhance its soft power by implementing domestic political reform and seeking qualitative improvement in all sectors, including politics, society, culture, value system, human infrastructure, and foreign policy.