China has spent billions of dollars to consolidate soft power in Asia but it is struggling to win sympathy from the people of the region.

Chinese President Xi Jinping in six years doubled the country's foreign budget from 30 billion to 60 billion yuan ($ 8.5 billion) to strengthen global diplomacy, according to the report. published December 10 from the AidData research room at William & Mary University in Virginia, USA.

"Public diplomacy is a key component of Beijing's toolkit to neutralize potential threats, overcome internal disadvantages and outrun regional competitors," the report said. said. The study was conducted in collaboration with the Asian Institute of Social Policy and the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), based in Washington.

"Toolkit for influencing South and Central Asia" includes huge infrastructure investments, state-backed communications, sister city, military diplomacy and Confucius Academy Tử, a place of teaching Chinese language and culture.

The report shows that 95% of China's financial diplomacy is related to infrastructure, the remaining 5% belongs to other areas such as humanitarian assistance or debt relief.

The two countries that account for half of Beijing's Asian investments are Pakistan and Kazakhstan, important links in the Belt and Road Initiative initiated by President Xi. This is an infrastructure investment project worth trillions of dollars, but it currently faces many controversies.

China also promotes cultural events, scholarships and student exchanges. Most countries in South and Central Asia now have at least one Chinese state media channel, including television, radio and print media.

China has organized 61 exchange trips for journalists from South and Central Asia from 2004 to 2017. According to the report, Beijing's sympathy for media coverage to serve the goal of expanding coverage. influence waves, and prevent negative criticism voices if any. However, public diplomacy tools are not enough to help Beijing garner votes of support in the UN vote.

Across South Asia, Beijing's "ability to integrate with ordinary people" is "extremely superficial," the report stressed.

In neighboring Kazakhstan, the phenomenon of "Chinese discrimination" "Sinophobia" appeared among the elite. Political leaders still loosen up with Uyghur organizations in Kazakhstan even though they have signed an agreement with China to help the country prevent separatist movements, the report said.

About one million Uighurs and other ethnic minorities, mostly Muslims, are believed to be detained in re-education camps in the Xinjiang region, northwest China.

Beijing asserts those facilities are "vocational training centers" and they are legally responding to threats from religious extremism. The US and Western countries do not accept the above statement. The US government recently announced a series of sanctions on Chinese officials, government organizations and private companies that "are responsible for or facilitate human rights violations in Xinjiang".

Kazakhstan is home to 75% of Uighurs in the region. According to the report, "if Beijing wants to maintain stability in the country ... they will probably need to convince not only the political elite but also the Kazakh public, which tends to support the interests of those who are Uyghur brothers in Xinjiang ".

On the other hand, the risk of falling into China's debt trap is also causing many Asian countries to worry.

China has faced criticism, mainly from Western countries, that it is "tying" poor and developing countries with loans that the other party is unable to repay, so that That promotes political influence.

Beijing denied the allegations that its loans were necessary and welcomed in countries ignored by the West, and pointed out that they provided them without any political conditions. .