One of my guilty pleasures is TikTok (which I tried after Trump announced its scheduled ban) in addition to UA-cam. I think the appeal of people like 李子柒 (Liziqi) and 唐艺 (Tang Yi) outside of China can be considered a form of soft power. I should also add Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li to the list.
I must share this video with others who i often have conversations with about China's international economic outreach. Many people in the west seem to know very little about the actual policies or the structure of the deals that are being made around the world. They seem to conflate internationalism with imperialism/colonialism. One is win-win while the other is purely exploitative.
My personal favorite introductions to Chinese philosophy, history, and culture include the Michael Wood series "The Story of China" and Wes Cecil's lectures on Mencius, Confucius, LaoTzu, Chinese Language & Civilization (available on his UA-cam channel). The biggest barrier to the spread of China's soft power is the language barrier in my opinion. English has spread around the world due to the powers of the British and American empires in succession. I think with time, if China continues to grow and build economic ties with the rest of the globe, people will find it advantageous to learn Chinese for their own advancement. I learned in Wes Cecil's lecture on Mencius (a disciple of Confucius) that this was one of his key advice (if a ruler can make his/her state and its people the envy of other states through fair, wise, and benevolent policies, then talented and skilled people from elsewhere will gravitate toward that state).
Chinese soft culture was never "popular" to begin with. The only brief softpower they had was in Hong Kong's Kung-fu movies under the British rule where even that got destroyed by the CCP. So I don't know where all this "why China can't compete with Korea and Japan softpower" is coming from. China hasn't really created or innovated anything in recent history in terms of "softpower" nor did they even care until Korean wave started. They were ALWAYS focused on being a hardpower nation using its economic and military might to influence neighboring countries. This is why they are just copying everything from Korean/Japanese contents since they do not have a good softpower content nor did they create/produce anything that CAN appeal to the outside world.... The only thing really popular from China is the food. The food is great though.
With regard to the Belt and Road, 1 of the most informative videos I saw about it was a talk titled "Peter Nolan on China's silk road strategy" posted 6 years ago. The path that the US / West chose since that talk is quite telling.
Aaron, did you take any marketing course at university? I agree with you that China's culture is still a black-box to much of the world's population. For several hundred years China was really behind an invisible curtain of barriers: politics, geography, language, ethnicity, etc. Just heard a phone conversation from a Chinese doctor (MD) who lived in Czech for 20 years. He lamented how European perception of China and Chinese culture is distorted, biased & negative. He said China's official channels like CCTV & CGTN are no match to the US led western media.The average Joe & Jane in the west just don't think like the Chinese news team. China needs to invest much more to build up a "marketing team" to bridge the gap. There is a podcast in Canada "Under the Influence" about marketing stories. It's all about understanding human psychology.
I did do a marketing related course at university. Yeah I totally agree, China needs to market itself better in todays world. You see that in most companies that deal with overseas customers they always have foreign marketing staff. I think that's partly due to the fact that China still isn't fully educated or aware of customer perceptions overseas.
The soft power of the West, particularly of the US, really does dominate, penetrating all countries throughout the world, and the US tends to claim that the soft power of such programs as the Belt and Road Initiative is a military threat and sometimes, as with the social centers of Nicaragua in the eighties, the US militarily attacks examples of soft power, referring to them as "soft targets," meaning non-military targets. That US tendency worries me when it comes to China, because the US will find a way to attack constructive Chinese programs like the BRI with the US's main strength, its military. (Hot Pot is China's soft power, but you don't have to respond.)
The status quo of the world has been western dominated for such a long time. The US and its allies generally see that any rival to their soft power may result in more favourable views of other countries, and less favourable views of the west. China has many things they still need to work on, but no one can deny that through economic projects like the BRI, they may start slowly winning some allies in developing countries. You see this happening now when African countries side with China in the UN. The west says that China is forcing them into voting a certain way, or saying certain things because that they owe China debt.
As always, Hot Pot is China's soft power, even though most people in the west may not agree LOL. About infrastructure competitive responses by the US, it is apparent that the first offer they make is to strengthen defence with military hardware, of course supplies and manufactured in the US by the Military Industrial Complex, and of course this does not come free or cheap, with long term indebtedness to the US, high interest, and questionable behind the scenes spending, all of which needs to be repaid. Just one example!
I believe there are some Hai Di Lao (famous hot pot chains) opened in the USA. Yes agreed, America and pretty much all countries want military bases opened in the countries they invest in. I think that the west wants all countries indebted to them, they can't stand others taking a piece of that pie.
Hot Pot is China's soft power! Haha..I totally agree with you. I always felt that China just needs a better PR system and promote more soft power and of course this needs to be done organically by it's people. That's why America can send out so much anti China rhetoric because they are able to influence you with their movies, music, arts and on and on. Chinese people are very expressive and creative if only the government of China would focus on letting their people be people.
the ancinet china did influnce the asia or the world,the cultural soft power of ANICENT CHINA is so strong but lookin at now,China doesnt preserve the culture as well as japan and korea,China has expereniced so many cultural disasters...miracle that it still surivives,but it hurts me that the rich culture cant be turned into strong soft power now 😭
That’s really a misconception. China is a nation of diversity unlike monoculture of Korea and Japan. China changes and it’s the great thing of China! Why do you think Japan and Korea are keeping old cultures better than China? Japan and Korea only capture a part of the ancient Chinese culture. China continues and moves forward. You can’t expect china to keep everything that originated from China.
You are so right, we got hot pot and then two other but the two other you will lmao, Bruce Lee who is dead and Jackie Chan who is to old...Lol... I want to say food buy we have so much different types it's crazy, oh and pandas would be great but they can't talk...But I really think China soft power is it's people cause there is a Chinese almost every corner and crack of the world... Lmao... Thank you for you.... Great video
Too bad you have missed after years in China. You still see China as a westerner with not much understanding of Chinese people such as their family value, the love for their family members including parents and close family members, the love and willing in sharing/helping their villagers. Chinese have its own civilization and entertainment such as drama, music, movie, dance, etc., etc. watched not only by Chinese but millions of Asians. The varieties of food and the mixed culture of various minority groups are also eye opener for many. The people work ethnic and diligence are to be admired.. and so on. Go deeper if you want to learn.
I think you missed the messages I was trying to convey in my video, which in some parts means I wasn't clear enough. I'm not debating that China has its own entertainment (debatable that its watched anywhere other than Chinese speaking countries) I would need to check the statistics of that. What I mean is that the spread of Chinese soft power to most of the world is (culturally/through entertainment/not economic soft power) is something that China could improve on. To say that I don't have an understanding of Chinese people, their family values, and their culture in China is not something that I would agree with. Do I know every little detail? No, that would be impossible. Do I have a better understanding than 95% of the western world? I would say yes.
One of my guilty pleasures is TikTok (which I tried after Trump announced its scheduled ban) in addition to UA-cam. I think the appeal of people like 李子柒 (Liziqi) and 唐艺 (Tang Yi) outside of China can be considered a form of soft power. I should also add Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li to the list.
I must share this video with others who i often have conversations with about China's international economic outreach. Many people in the west seem to know very little about the actual policies or the structure of the deals that are being made around the world. They seem to conflate internationalism with imperialism/colonialism. One is win-win while the other is purely exploitative.
Please do!
totally agree!
My personal favorite introductions to Chinese philosophy, history, and culture include the Michael Wood series "The Story of China" and Wes Cecil's lectures on Mencius, Confucius, LaoTzu, Chinese Language & Civilization (available on his UA-cam channel). The biggest barrier to the spread of China's soft power is the language barrier in my opinion. English has spread around the world due to the powers of the British and American empires in succession. I think with time, if China continues to grow and build economic ties with the rest of the globe, people will find it advantageous to learn Chinese for their own advancement. I learned in Wes Cecil's lecture on Mencius (a disciple of Confucius) that this was one of his key advice (if a ruler can make his/her state and its people the envy of other states through fair, wise, and benevolent policies, then talented and skilled people from elsewhere will gravitate toward that state).
Chinese soft culture was never "popular" to begin with. The only brief softpower they had was in Hong Kong's Kung-fu movies under the British rule where even that got destroyed by the CCP.
So I don't know where all this "why China can't compete with Korea and Japan softpower" is coming from.
China hasn't really created or innovated anything in recent history in terms of "softpower" nor did they even care until Korean wave started.
They were ALWAYS focused on being a hardpower nation using its economic and military might to influence neighboring countries.
This is why they are just copying everything from Korean/Japanese contents since they do not have a good softpower content nor did they create/produce anything that CAN appeal to the outside world....
The only thing really popular from China is the food. The food is great though.
Very good and in-depth analysis of the belt and road initiative.👍
Glad you liked it!
With regard to the Belt and Road, 1 of the most informative videos I saw about it was a talk titled "Peter Nolan on China's silk road strategy" posted 6 years ago. The path that the US / West chose since that talk is quite telling.
Aaron, did you take any marketing course at university? I agree with you that China's culture is still a black-box to much of the world's population. For several hundred years China was really behind an invisible curtain of barriers: politics, geography, language, ethnicity, etc. Just heard a phone conversation from a Chinese doctor (MD) who lived in Czech for 20 years. He lamented how European perception of China and Chinese culture is distorted, biased & negative. He said China's official channels like CCTV & CGTN are no match to the US led western media.The average Joe & Jane in the west just don't think like the Chinese news team. China needs to invest much more to build up a "marketing team" to bridge the gap. There is a podcast in Canada "Under the Influence" about marketing stories. It's all about understanding human psychology.
I did do a marketing related course at university. Yeah I totally agree, China needs to market itself better in todays world. You see that in most companies that deal with overseas customers they always have foreign marketing staff. I think that's partly due to the fact that China still isn't fully educated or aware of customer perceptions overseas.
Some people think bombing is better than building roads.
The soft power of the West, particularly of the US, really does dominate, penetrating all countries throughout the world, and the US tends to claim that the soft power of such programs as the Belt and Road Initiative is a military threat and sometimes, as with the social centers of Nicaragua in the eighties, the US militarily attacks examples of soft power, referring to them as "soft targets," meaning non-military targets. That US tendency worries me when it comes to China, because the US will find a way to attack constructive Chinese programs like the BRI with the US's main strength, its military. (Hot Pot is China's soft power, but you don't have to respond.)
The status quo of the world has been western dominated for such a long time. The US and its allies generally see that any rival to their soft power may result in more favourable views of other countries, and less favourable views of the west. China has many things they still need to work on, but no one can deny that through economic projects like the BRI, they may start slowly winning some allies in developing countries. You see this happening now when African countries side with China in the UN. The west says that China is forcing them into voting a certain way, or saying certain things because that they owe China debt.
As always, Hot Pot is China's soft power, even though most people in the west may not agree LOL.
About infrastructure competitive responses by the US, it is apparent that the first offer they make is to strengthen defence with military hardware, of course supplies and manufactured in the US by the Military Industrial Complex, and of course this does not come free or cheap, with long term indebtedness to the US, high interest, and questionable behind the scenes spending, all of which needs to be repaid. Just one example!
I believe there are some Hai Di Lao (famous hot pot chains) opened in the USA. Yes agreed, America and pretty much all countries want military bases opened in the countries they invest in. I think that the west wants all countries indebted to them, they can't stand others taking a piece of that pie.
Aaron, I would say Chinese Medicine and Kung Fu (Martial Arts) has certain degree of soft power around the world.
I would agree with you
@@AaroninChina I think today not as much as the 80s, 90s, and early 2000's as newer generations become familiar with UFC type fights.
Liziqi ❤️
Hot Pot is China's soft power! Haha..I totally agree with you. I always felt that China just needs a better PR system and promote more soft power and of course this needs to be done organically by it's people. That's why America can send out so much anti China rhetoric because they are able to influence you with their movies, music, arts and on and on. Chinese people are very expressive and creative if only the government of China would focus on letting their people be people.
Agree with you. China needs a top notch PR team, who better than their own people?
Still far below when it comes to pop-culture soft power player like Japan and South Korea. Soft power can't be bought. It must be earned.
It will come esp with this young generation when they have enough money to not worry about where they can get food everyday.
Very well-researched video Aaron!! "Hotpot is China's soft power" :)
you have some self reflection, and conscience. I like that, and makes this video more validated
Well done.
The cartoon on the cover is so amusing.
No, not really, their entertainment is pretty bad, there conics are terrible at storytelling.
I was with you until you went into the whataboutsm route .
Wangyibo. Jackie Chan. Bruce Lee. The untamed. Manga. Novels. Bromnce dramas. Tiktok. Jet Li .the untamed. Most Chinese dramas are on UA-cam.
the ancinet china did influnce the asia or the world,the cultural soft power of ANICENT CHINA is so strong but lookin at now,China doesnt preserve the culture as well as japan and korea,China has expereniced so many cultural disasters...miracle that it still surivives,but it hurts me that the rich culture cant be turned into strong soft power now 😭
That’s really a misconception. China is a nation of diversity unlike monoculture of Korea and Japan. China changes and it’s the great thing of China! Why do you think Japan and Korea are keeping old cultures better than China? Japan and Korea only capture a part of the ancient Chinese culture. China continues and moves forward. You can’t expect china to keep everything that originated from China.
You are so right, we got hot pot and then two other but the two other you will lmao, Bruce Lee who is dead and Jackie Chan who is to old...Lol... I want to say food buy we have so much different types it's crazy, oh and pandas would be great but they can't talk...But I really think China soft power is it's people cause there is a Chinese almost every corner and crack of the world... Lmao... Thank you for you.... Great video
不关心政治你会过的很开心，道法自然！
what you are saying are not what subtitles are saying：）
but anyway，i got your point，and i agree with you for the most part：）
Hot pot is China's soft power. Haha
I do love me some Hot Pot. I'm a 3 sauce kinda guy.
@@AaroninChina, Tried couple of times and I really like it. I imagine China version would be much better. 😛
Yawn
Too bad you have missed after years in China. You still see China as a westerner with not much understanding of Chinese people such as their family value, the love for their family members including parents and close family members, the love and willing in sharing/helping their villagers.
Chinese have its own civilization and entertainment such as drama, music, movie, dance, etc., etc. watched not only by Chinese but millions of Asians. The varieties of food and the mixed culture of various minority groups are also eye opener for many. The people work ethnic and diligence are to be admired.. and so on. Go deeper if you want to learn.
I think you missed the messages I was trying to convey in my video, which in some parts means I wasn't clear enough. I'm not debating that China has its own entertainment (debatable that its watched anywhere other than Chinese speaking countries) I would need to check the statistics of that. What I mean is that the spread of Chinese soft power to most of the world is (culturally/through entertainment/not economic soft power) is something that China could improve on.
To say that I don't have an understanding of Chinese people, their family values, and their culture in China is not something that I would agree with. Do I know every little detail? No, that would be impossible. Do I have a better understanding than 95% of the western world? I would say yes.
I think C dramas are a form of soft power too
𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕞 🙈