在中國推動公共外交之前，海外華人已參與和公共外交相關事務，但他們的動機是出自於愛國與民族情感，中國乃加以運用，並推動僑務公共外交，鼓勵他們向當地政府及公眾介紹中國國情與政策，使中國的公共外交在官方絕對控管下，出現少有的一股民間力量。在歐美的華人參與尤其熱衷，他們以組織、社團或網路為平台，對當地政府決策與公眾輿論造成一定的影響，但由於多是自發與自主的行為，不願意受中國政府的管控的結果，使得他們的公共外交職能受限，也會損及整體公共外交的效能，這是中國想要納入非政府組織與公眾為公共外交的執行主體時，似乎須面對的問題。本文先歸納出中國海外華人在公共外交的參與背景、現況與特性，再從一、中國對華人參與公共外交的預期；二、中國在海外公共外交的運作；三、歐美公眾對中國形象的反應；來評析華人的參與效能及對中國公共外交的影響。

Prior to China’s promotion of public diplomacy, overseas Chinese have
been involved in related affairs; their motives have been patriotism and
national sentiment. China, thus, adapts such sentiment to promote the
overseas public diplomacy by encouraging overseas Chinese to present
China's national conditions and policies to foreign nationals. A strong, nongovernmental force – rarely seen under the absolute official control by
China’s public diplomacy – has emerged among the overseas Chinese.
Particularly, the participation of overseas Chinese in Europe and America is the most keen. They establish organizations, associations or network as platforms to create certain impact on local government’s policies and public opinions. Their activities are mostly autonomous, with intentions to overlook China’s control. As a result, their activities lead to the restriction of China’s public diplomatic functions and damage the overall effectiveness. This is the problem that China needs to face in relying on non-governmental organizations and the public as the main entity of public diplomacy implementation. This study first summarizes the background, current status and characteristics of overseas Chinese in participating public diplomacy. Through 1）China’s expectation of overseas Chinese in the participation of public diplomacy, 2）China’s operation in foreign public diplomacy, and 3）the responses of people in Europe and America to the image of China, this study comments on the participation effectiveness of overseas Chinese and the impact towards China’s public diplomacy.