MAKING THE PAST SERVE THE PRESENT: HISTORICAL REVISIONISM IN CHINA’S ONE BELT ONE ROAD PROPAGANDA

Abstract

ABSTRACT Propaganda is an illuminating and under-studied entry point for assessing the One Belt One Road initiative (OBOR). This essay discusses the ideological and historical claims embedded in three categories of OBOR propaganda: documentary films for domestic audiences, national history textbooks, and short films for English-speaking audiences. Chinese-language propaganda reframe the historical Silk Road as a deliberate, visionary achievement of renowned emperor Han Wudi (r. 141-87 B.C.). The historical narratives work systematically to legitimate Xi s international ambitions by juxtaposing his contributions with those of Han Wudi, including by adjusting factual claims about the ancient Silk Road to make the parallel more obvious. OBOR is thereby cast as a neo-tributary system, in which partner countries enjoy favourable access to China s market and technology-and acknowledge China s preeminent status in return. The historical adventurers Zhang Qian and Zheng He are recast as loyal agents of the emperor in expanding the geographic scope of this system. English-language OBOR propaganda feature a completely different and far more benign narrative about OBOR s historical legacy and contemporary China s ideological motivations. The “Belt and Road Bedtime Stories” cast China as a peace-loving power that respects difference and seeks to protect the existing international order by promoting globalization and free trade. In light of the first two categories of propaganda, I argue that this third narrative is unpersuasive.