Of these three channels, Internet is showing its advantages in quick speed, interactivity and global perspective and is becoming the favorite among all transmissionchannels, as well as one of the important chains in the global strategy of "American think taiik". Through the network, all network users could learn the analyseson foreign policies by the American think tanks, which would gradually establishthe soft power of the States. During the information transmission of Americanthink tanks, paper media, electronic media and internet have their own specific fea-tures-while all of them bear the responsibilities of setting up schedules, guidingthe public opinions. The effects of paper media on public opinions are long. Elec-tronic media would pay much attention to enlarging and directing the formation ofpublic opinions, and the Internet stresses interactivity and the transmission of information globally.
Practical Approaches to Improve the Influences of ChineseThink TanksCurrently, Chinese think tank is at equal stage with US in terms of quantity,yet lagged far behind on innovation competence. Comparing with the Americanthink tanks" international speaking right with powerful influence on public opinions, Chinese think tanks are still weak. Searctiing for the reason behind it, wehave to do our homework in three-layers-market environment, product qualityand marketing. At the same time, the awareness of responsibility, globalizationand brand are also indispensable.
Regarding market environment, Chinese government should create a favora-ble market environment for the development of its think tanks and graduallychange the situations where the government think tanks monopoly the capital, information and the channels. At the same time, non-government think tanksshould have the chance to develop further so that a comparatively free competitionmarket of thought could be formed. Firstly, the political decision making processshall be transparent and a non-government consultation system shall be formed tocreate a much broader space for the existing and development of think tank. Sec-ondly, the government should provide legal,policy and capital support for the de-velopment of think tanks, encourage the development of Chinese Foundation andthe donation by enterprises and individuals on policy research. Thirdly, the gov-ernment should cultivate the political awareness and political competence of thegeneral public by all ways and channels, in order to improve the recognitions ofthe public on think tanks and lead the public to learn to tolerate different ideas.
Fourthly, the government should provide a more relaxing environment for thetransmission of political messages by the media, ensuring all the ideas and spee-ches from the think tank fully expressed.
For quality of the products, whether a think tank can produce high qualitypolicy and possess the innovation capacity largely depends on its independence,scholars and operation mechanism. Therefore, the Chinese think tanks shall firstundergo a thorough Institutional Reform and form a highly effective operationmechanism On the organization structure, the core part shall be the research de-partment. All other departments shall provide support and service for the researchdepartment and create a favorable research environment for scholars. To ensurethe comparative independence of the research, research capital resources shall bediversified-besides government fund, there shall also be capitals from the Founda-tion, enterprises and individuals. At the same time, the resources of these capitalscan not affect the research process and final findings. On the research personnel,the unitary academic background which was commonly seen shall be changed to in-troduce in comprehensive talents with different ages and backgrounds. Thinktanks shall focus on research to guide realistic political decision making, not pureacademic research in universities or studies. Besides, high rank official"s thinktank shall fully recognize its advantage on channels, strengthen its cooperationwith other research organizations and integrate all research resources.
For marketing, Chinese think tanks shall learn from the successful practicesof western think tanks to establish a complete and multi-level message transmis-sion mechanism to optimize the influence of the research findings of think tanks.
Think tanks shall not only be the brain of the government, but also, to some ex-tent, they are responsible for leading the social ideas and cultivating the public"s a-bility of political participation.
At present, most of China"s think tanks are quite weak in expending theirpublic influence. On the one hand, leaders of the think tank have not yet recognized the importance of influencing the public opinion. On the other hand, theyare lack of experience in communicating with professionals of the media. Besides,the marketing of think tank shall not only focus on the domestic area, but also thewhole world. Moreover, the significance and value of international transmission ofthe Internet shall be fully recognized.
The so-called awareness of responsibility refers to the social responsibilityawareness of experts and scholars working on the think tank research. From theperspective of a country"s benefits and the people"s livelihood, they should thinkindependently and speak frankly. The awareness of globalization means that theleaders of think tanks shall consider the development strategy of the think tankfrom a global perspective and strengthen the exchange and cooperation with foreign think tanks. Awareness of brand refers to a clear and definite mission andgoal of Chinese think tanks. Concentrated on such goals, we should try to build aholistic image and influence, promoting the transmission of brand globally.
Think tank is the origin of a country"s innovative ideas as well as an impor-tant representative of a country"s soft power. Along with the rising of a superpower, the developing of its think tanks is becoming more and more urgent. IfChinese think tanks want to achieve global influence, there are still long way togo. Fortunately, we are already on the way right now.
