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Soft power matters. "Cool" matters. China will always struggle against freer and more open societies that bring people into their culture, music, art, and other

by NN88 3y ago

Soft power matters. "Cool" matters. China will always struggle against freer and more open societies that bring people into their culture, music, art, and other forms of expression. The comparison to what Japan and South Korea have done should be a wake up call for these places. Even Russia doesn't have the cultural cachet it did during the Cold War.

version_five 3y ago
I don't think framing it as unilaterally China's fault is helpful. Obviously they have their issues, though it seems like ~40 years of increasing trade with them has improved their standard of living and backed them off of a lot of ideology, even of they still have a long way to go. The issue now is the regression back to isolationism - according to the article it's over the past 10 years that interest has eroded.
- code_biologist 3y ago
  Would it be helpful to frame it as unilaterally the fault of Xi Jinping and the rise of wolf warrior diplomacy?
- laserdancepony 3y ago
  Of course it is their fault. They remain in a communist dictatorship with no regard for human rights whatsoever.
jmoak3 3y ago
Yup. From a youth spent watching anime I can read katakana and hiragana, despite Japan’s economic and demographic woes their culture is very impactful
dehrmann 3y ago
TFA backs this up with Korean becoming much more popular.
ninjin 3y ago
Something which I think I in my "western ignorance" underestimated is the massive amount of soft power Japan wields through its economy and culture in East/South Asia. Possibly because Japanese culture mainly reached geeks such as myself in Europe. All the way down to Oceania and even the most nationalistic PRC national, every single one of them that I know have experienced Japanese manga and anime since childhood in the same way that Disney had a reach across "The West". Heck, look at today's "geek culture" in the PRC and tell me that you do not see the obvious parallels to Japan.

by NN88 3y ago

version_five 3y ago

I don't think framing it as unilaterally China's fault is helpful. Obviously they have their issues, though it seems like ~40 years of increasing trade with them has improved their standard of living and backed them off of a lot of ideology, even of they still have a long way to go. The issue now is the regression back to isolationism - according to the article it's over the past 10 years that interest has eroded.

code_biologist 3y ago
Would it be helpful to frame it as unilaterally the fault of Xi Jinping and the rise of wolf warrior diplomacy?
laserdancepony 3y ago
Of course it is their fault. They remain in a communist dictatorship with no regard for human rights whatsoever.

jmoak3 3y ago

Yup. From a youth spent watching anime I can read katakana and hiragana, despite Japan’s economic and demographic woes their culture is very impactful

dehrmann 3y ago

TFA backs this up with Korean becoming much more popular.

ninjin 3y ago

Something which I think I in my "western ignorance" underestimated is the massive amount of soft power Japan wields through its economy and culture in East/South Asia. Possibly because Japanese culture mainly reached geeks such as myself in Europe. All the way down to Oceania and even the most nationalistic PRC national, every single one of them that I know have experienced Japanese manga and anime since childhood in the same way that Disney had a reach across "The West". Heck, look at today's "geek culture" in the PRC and tell me that you do not see the obvious parallels to Japan.