China’s Image and Public Diplomacy through Cultural Activity: Case Study on Summer Camp Program by Confucius Institute in Malang, Indonesia

This article discusses China's image development through cultural activity by the Confucius Institute in Indonesia. It focuses on the impact of summer camp program held by Confucius Institute or Pusat Bahasa Mandarin (Mandarin Language Center) in State University of Malang to the participant's perception toward China. It is qualitative research where data collected by online survey and interview toward summer program participants. The informants are students of the international relations department at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang who joined the program. The concept of public diplomacy was used to explain the impact of the summer camp program on China's image. The result shows that the summer camp program seems to succeed to improve China's image and confirmed its image as a developed country in the economy. It also succeeds to engage participants for a study about China and study in China. However, most of the participants are not eager to write a thesis about China. Cultural activity through the summer camp program shows the success story of China's public diplomacy to develop China's positive image. However, it needs improvement, especially to encourage participants to write research about China.