EU Soft Power with China: Technical Assistance in the Field of Intellectual Property Rights

Abstract:

This article argues that the technical assistance programmes of the EU have been amongst the most effective soft power instruments in shaping the influence that Europe has had within key actor communities during China's re-emergence. The IPR2 project is one such example of this phenomenon. The article locates this initiative within the context of joint interests as an intersection between the EU's motivations in embedding a more sophisticated approach across China towards the importance of intellectual property protection and China's needs to improve her own domestic level of innovation.

This method of cooperation is an illustration of normative transference through diffusion and shows how engagement can move beyond a narrow notion of soft power to encompass more wide-ranging interpretations that highlight the importance of a nation's technological capability and the influence possessed by a country's scientific achievement. The success of IPR2 is examined in two ways: first, through qualitative analysis of political dimensions in its formation and outcome, and second, in quantitative terms through reviewing increased IP activism by Chinese institutional and corporate actors. The article concludes by maintaining that engagement strategies of this kind offer a model for future relations and deserve sustained political support.