Public Diplomacy in the Digital Arena

A Comparative Assessment of US and Chinese Influence in Southeast Asia

Surachanee Sriyai

• Publisher: ISEAS
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• eBook ISBN:
  9789815361667
• Subtopic: International Relations
• Index: Politics & International Relations

US public diplomacy operates through a decentralized model that prioritizes local adaptation and high-volume messaging, while China relies on a centralized system emphasizing narrative discipline and message uniformity. Quantitative engagement data show that Chinese embassies consistently achieve higher engagement efficiency than their US counterparts; four of the top-performing five missions by conversion rate are Chinese, converting audience reach into public interaction more effectively across the region. Institutional structure shapes content strategy and audience alignment. US embassies emphasize people-to-people ties, partnerships and future-oriented cooperation with localized framing; and narratives remain stable despite leadership changes in Washington, with only 5 per cent of posts reposting senior US officials' statements. Chinese embassies emphasize friendship and development narratives with minimal country-specific variation. About 20 per cent of Chinese posts are reposts from senior CCP or MFA figures, reinforcing consistency but limiting localization. Financial investment does not reliably translate into influence: Financial and engagement metrics reveal diminishing returns to scale in digital diplomacy. Larger budgets and bigger audiences produce weaker proportional influence, while smaller well-aligned missions convert attention into engagement more efficiently. China currently achieves greater "observed ROI" in Southeast Asia's digital information environment. Even in the absence of transparent Chinese budget data, Chinese missions outperform US missions in transforming visibility into engagement, indicating superior performance in digital diplomacy. Divergent institutional strategies explain much of the performance gap: US public diplomacy remains oriented towards high-volume information dissemination, whereas China's model emphasizes message discipline, narrative coherence, and targeted audience engagement. Expert interviews confirm that regional audiences privilege credibility and local relevance over message volume: Across twenty regional specialists surveyed, trust in US public diplomacy remains higher overall, but China is increasingly competitive because of its economic centrality and disciplined messaging.

Table of contents

• Foreword
• Executive Summary
• Public Diplomacy in the Digital Arena: A Comparative Assessment of US and Chinese Influence in Southeast Asia
• References
• APPENDIX 1 : Full Name of Bureaus and Offices Below the Undersecretary- Level in the United States Department of State Organization Chart Shown in Figure 1
• APPENDIX 2: Sample Messages Used by US and China Missions in Relation to their Key Frames, by Country
• APPENDIX: 3 Semi-Structured Interview Questions