Soft language: il discorso politico cinese come strumento di soft power. Il caso dei Libri Bianchi e del sito del Ministero degli Affari Esteri cinese

The paper aims to identify some of the main characteristics of Chinese international political discourse, as it is represented in speeches made by representatives of China’s government and addressed to foreign audiences. In particular, through a preliminary analysis of the transcriptions of political speeches, published on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and on the White Paper on China's foreign policy, the study attempts to provide some insights into major types of speeches, structural organization and recurring methods of argument. Furthermore, in order to identify elements of continuity and change from the political language of the past, the paper tries to detect the presence in the speeches of the so-called 'discursive pillars of Chinese rhetoric' (modernism, nationalism, anti-foreigner sentiment and culturalism).