ABSTRACT
As a
critical component of Chinese think tanks, university think tanks of China have
become an important bridge between policy communication and academic research
for their professional research capacities and positive social influence.
Hence, university think tanks, which have significant influences in the
research field of “the Belt and Road” policy, were selected as the subject of
this paper, in which their research orientations, research findings, and
academic trends are analyzed from the perspective of new media. On this basis,
the participation mechanism of university think tanks in “the Belt and Road”
policy field is summarized according to the research features and functions of
different types of university think tanks, such as think tanks established by
comprehensive universities, foreign studies universities, or other local
universities. The research findings reveal that university think tanks tend to
spread their opinions and suggestions to the public or decision makers through
various media methods (e.g. website, microblog, WeChat, forum construction, and
news reports), mainly aiming at influencing public opinions and decisions.
Furthermore, new media and university think tanks can have effective
communication with the public and the government in accordance with their
specific features, thus creating a mutually accessible and influential policy
network structure. In this network structure, media exposure and public
opinions become the problem flow during the research on “the Belt and Road”
policy. Then, university think tanks and media comments put forward feasible
solutions in response to relevant problems, thus forming the policy flow. Next,
related policy suggestions driven by public opinions and social interest groups
will become a political flow to affect policy activists. Eventually, strategic
decisions will be made, realizing the expression of public opinions and the
communication of policy output.