China's Cultural Soft Power offers the most comprehensive study to date of the rise and fall of Confucius Institutes in the United States. Drawing on extensive interviews, documentary evidence, and the benefit of historical hindsight, Shao-cheng Sun presents a nuanced, empirically rich analysis of China's cultural diplomacy, the controversies surrounding the Confucius Institutes, and their eventual demise amid escalating bilateral tensions. Timely, balanced, and thoroughly researched, this book is an indispensable reference for scholars of contemporary China, global higher education, public diplomacy, and U.S.-China relations.

Joseph Tse-Hei Lee, Professor of History and Executive Director of the Global Asia Institute, Pace University, USA

Shao-cheng Sun has given us the most comprehensive and balanced study to date of Confucius Institutes in the US. He has carefully tracked the rise and fall of CIs and clarified Chinese aims and official US efforts to derail them. Through insights from extensive interviews of CI personnel at a number of US institutions, Sun provides an excellent case study of the collision between Chinese soft power and US strategic priorities.

Mel Gurtov, Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Portland State University, USA