‘Constructing’ heritage diplomacy in Central Asia: China’s Sinocentric historicisation of transnational World Heritage Sites

Abstract

As the ancient Silk Road began acquiring new centrality in China’s soft power strategy in the mid-2000s, so did heritage diplomacy, which developed as an engagement tool for fostering relations with Central Asia. The paper examines China’s heritage cooperation with Central Asian countries through the lenses of social constructivism, investigating the conditions whereby the discursive construction of heritage has elicited cooperation. Linking the constructivist canon to Tim Winter’s work, the research considers heritage as diplomacy, suggesting that cooperation is fostered when heritage is framed as a link to a shared past among states and heritage positively engages with the core national interests of recipient countries. The research examines China’s discursive construction of the ‘Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor’ joint nomination to the UNESCO World Heritage list with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in media texts. The paper identifies a Sinocentric historicisation of heritage that, on the one hand, shies away from historical memories of conflict and competition and, on the other, connects joint heritage work with the notion of national sovereignty, playing on Central Asia’s interests.