Soft power is increasingly central to China’s global dominance, no longer limited to economic prowess or military ambitions. This subtle yet key asset is reshaping Asian culture through the likes of food, film and online content.
China’s cultural exports are changing its image abroad, wielding a double-edged sword. On the one hand, they have the potential to foster unity and commonality across the vast Asian continent. On the other, they threaten regional uniqueness and act as a vehicle for Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda.
You don’t have to be a CCP shill to see the hypocrisy in how American cultural exports are normalized and not sensationalized.
Chinese culture was, just like US culture, normalized until they started claiming land and ocean, and committing genocide. Now both cultures are frowned upon.