The Digital Silk Road and China’s Volumetric Diplomacy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24211757 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Chih Yuan Woon (0000-0002-2811-5809) |
| Year | 2027 |
| Volume | 178 |
| Pages | 104846 |
| Publication date | 2027-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Geoforum (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0016-7185 • E-ISSN: 1872-9398 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.geoforum.2026.104846 |
| OpenAlex | W7216098752 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 34 |
Drawing on political geographers’ expositions of diplomacy and volumetric thinking, this paper reflects on the changing mode of diplomatic interactions that China is involved in under the Digital Silk Road (DSR). Specifically, it proposes the concept of ‘volumetric diplomacy’ to capture the ways in which voluminous objects, spaces, encounters and experiences are fully caught up with China’s external engagements in light of its growing digital forays. Indeed, the DSR’s strong reliance on subterranean and extraterrestrial infrastructures to facilitate the exchanging of digital information and knowledges opens up opportunities for the forging of a new model of Chinese diplomatic architecture that is distinctly 3D. At the same time, Chinese elites have systematically showcased responsible gestures and actions in volumetric spaces so as to project a positive image and alleviate broader (Western) suspicions of the DSR. Public diplomatic efforts designed to enhance the immersive, multisensory experiences of the DSR are simultaneously indicative of the Beijing government’s desire to make the initiative more relatable and amenable to domestic and international audiences alike. Ultimately then, volumetric diplomacy does not merely denote the shifting realities of China’s cross-border interventions. It also possesses analytical utility in illuminating the complex and multiple ways that China is rebranding and repositioning itself by signaling to its status as a nascent albeit virtuous global power through volumetric means and approaches.
China's global image · Chinese diplomacy · digital infrastructure · Digital Silk Road · diplomatic architecture · immersive experience · multisensory experience · Public Diplomacy · underground structures · Belt and Road Initiative · Central Asia Education and Culture · International Relations and Foreign Policy
Developing information and communication technology with the belt and road initiative and the digital silk road
Domestic public diplomacy as a communications strategy. Analysis of the Spanish case
Inclusive globalization
A critical look at Chinese ‘debt-trap diplomacy’
The deep interface of the effectuated voluminous territories
Making Mars resonate
Securitise the volume
Beyond the BRI
Practice Approaches to the Digital Transformations of Diplomacy
Digital Silk Road” as a Slogan Instead of a Grand Strategy
Chinese Influence through Technical Standardization Power
Xi Jinping’s ‘Major Country Diplomacy’
Geocultural diplomacy
Conceptualizing ‘diaspora diplomacy’
Taking trust online
Learning along the Digital Silk Road? Technology transfer, power, and Chinese ICT corporations in North Africa
China’s ‘New Silk Roads’
Provincialising’ the Belt and Road Initiative
Earthly volumes, voluminous materialities
Forging volumetric methods
Blended Diplomacy
Gendering the practice turn in diplomacy
Towards a solid-fluid territory
Secure the volume
Rethinking popular geopolitics in the Falklands/Malvinas sovereignty dispute
Three-dimensional security
Political geographies of the object
Do you dive
Practice diffusion in China's two-pronged engagement in global technical standardization
Afghanistan and China's new neighbourhood diplomacy
Geocultural power and the digital Silk Roads
Mapping Chinese Diplomacy
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |