City University of Hong Kong
CityUHK Announcement Portal (CAP)
City University of Hong Kong
CityUHK Announcement Portal (CAP)

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(Reminder) COM Research Seminar: Panda As a New Figure: An Adorable Instrument Of Chinese Digital Diplomacy by Dr. Zhao Alexandre HUANG
(POSTED: 2025-10-29 12:00 AM )
COM Research Seminar: CityUHK Research Seminar: Panda As a New Figure: An Adorable Instrument Of Chinese Digital Diplomacy by Dr. Zhao Alexandre HUANG, Universite Gustave Eiffel, France. Date & Time: 31 October 2025, 10:30 - 12:00. Venue: Multimedia Laboratory (M5064),5/F, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre, please click https://www.cityu.edu.hk/com/Public/AppForms/StI_AppForm.aspx?id=1289 to register for the seminar by 31 Oct 2025. Language: English. Abstract This study presents an examination of China’s digital panda diplomacy strategy, highlighting how state-owned media actors have systematically leveraged platform affordances to reinforce a favorable international image. On the one hand, the research will identify how China's mainstream media mobilizes the image of the panda to publicize its foreign policy, geopolitical initiatives, and diplomatic advocacy, to establish interactions and dialogues with internet users, and to construct an “adorable” image and a favorable reputation for China's presence on the international stage. On the other hand, by combining coding techniques with statistical content analysis and leveraging the ERNIE-2.0 pre-trained language model, this study will trace the transformation of panda-themed narratives across official Chinese social media accounts from 2017 to 2020. The analysis offers a longitudinal and comparative perspective on the evolution of digital panda diplomacy, it highlights how Chinese media institutions have progressively reshaped the panda into a strategically sophisticated communication asset, employed not only as a goodwill ambassador but also as a tool for softening China’s global image. About the speaker: Dr. Zhao Alexandre Huang is an Associate Professor in Information and Communication Sciences at the Université Gustave Eiffel. He works at the DICEN laboratory. As an inaugural CPD-SIF Southeast Asia Research Fellow and 2023 Ewha Global Fellow, Dr. Huang is active in international communication and digital diplomacy research and practice societies. He studies institutional practices, political and public communication strategies, and the formation of strategic narratives in the practice of public diplomacy. He serves as Vice-President of the French Society of Information and Communication Sciences, Program Chair of the International Communication Session of the International Studies Association, and Vice-Chair of the Public Diplomacy Interest Group of the International Communication Association. For enquiries, please call 34428677.
Category:
Academic Seminar
Department:
Department of Media and Communication (COM)
Venue:
Multimedia Laboratory 2 (M5064), 5/F, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre
Start Date:
2025-10-31 10:30
End Date:
2025-10-31 12:00
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