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Outside of very specific niches like trade deficits, job and industry losses (moved to China), and geopolitical saber rattling, I feel the sentiment of the aver

Outside of very specific niches like trade deficits, job and industry losses (moved to China), and geopolitical saber rattling, I feel the sentiment of the average man is actually very pro-China thanks to how much sheer money China pours into soft power. I recommend seeing what China has its monies in, because they are in fucking everything today. As an example, China has their monies in like 80~90%+ of the global video game market through Tencent, and video games are one of the heralds of pop culture and thus influence today. More critically, China has a growing stranglehold on the next generation of global payment processors through Alipay and WeChat Pay among others. Also, perhaps ironically: This entire thread with numerous pro-China/anti-US/anti-west sentiments. To put this in Civilization terms, China is going for an Econo-Cultural Victory and I daresay it's working.

pragmomm 2y ago
> average man is actually very pro-China survey would say otherwise: For the fifth year in a row, about eight-in-ten Americans report an unfavorable view of China https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2024/05/01/americans-remain-critical-of-china/ https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2024/05/01/americans-rema... In the 18 high-income countries we polled, views of China are, on balance, negative. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2024/07/09/views-of-china-and-xi-jinping/ https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2024/07/09/views-of-china...
- Dalewyn 2y ago
  I would take surveys with a large serving of salt. By their own admission, the American survey only concerned a selection of 3,600 by phone call, and those who refused to answer are not counted in the results. That's not going to create a reasonable representation, because for starters most people these days fucking hate junk calls. Also of note in that survey is that the anti-China sentiment is heavily biased towards older conservatives. That means the current and coming younger, more progressive generations are more pro-China, relatively speaking. This is China's investment into soft power blossoming in spades. As for the country survey, have a closer look at that breakdown: The west, to include Japan and South Korea, are anti-China as a collective. Most of the rest of the world is at worst neutral and at best pro-China; South and Central America is almost entirely pro-China including Mexico, the US's immediate neighbour to the south. Also, despite Indians' claimed anti-Chinese sentiment, India is also one of, if not the, China's biggest strategic ally if not necessarily a friend. Again, China's investment into soft power blossoming in spades. While the efficacy of American anti-Chinese propaganda is certainly debatable, it's clear the US and the west at large are losing the econo-cultural fight and need to respond somehow.
  - wegfawefgawefg 2y ago
    [flagged]
- fragmede 2y ago
  Sure, but how many Americans have TikTok or Temu installed?
  - glimshe 2y ago
    It's a free country. We can have a negative view of China while still doing business with them.
xenospn 2y ago
China can not achieve a cultural victory. They are exporting their form of government, but Chinese culture is still a mystery in the west to this day, unlike, say, Japan or Korea. Can you name one Chinese pop star or movie star? Other than the Hong Kong ones, I can’t.
- Dalewyn 2y ago
  I think you've missed the Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail craze, those two Chinese games took the global video game market by storm. I'm not going to mention the smaller hits like Arknights and Azur Lane and many more. Japanese and Korean pop culture are yesterday's news, Chinese pop culture is the current trend. And note, I say that very begrudgingly as a Japanese; even in Japan now the Chinese games are more popular than homegrown Japanese games.
  - xenospn 2y ago
    [flagged]
    - Dalewyn 2y ago
      Thanks for the laugh, that was great. Seriously though, the tendrils of Chinese money run deep and wide to extents I'm sure most people simply can't realize. To demonstrate China's influence on video games around the world: Epic Games (USA), Ubisoft (USA), Riot Games (USA), Paradox Interactive (Sweden), Kadokawa (Japan), Marvelous (Japan), FromSoftware (Japan), Visual Arts Key (Japan), Netmarble (South Korea), Frontier Developments (UK), Digital Extremes (Canada), Roblox (USA), and Discord (USA) all have Chinese money in them through Tencent.[1] [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent#Foreign_studio_assets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent#Foreign_studio_assets And that is just Tencent in just video games (and Discord). I've not even gotten into all the other Chinese game development outfits yet, let alone other markets entirely like Tiktok and Temu as another commenter pointed out. Also, that list of Tencent influence was absolutely depressing to type out.
  - wegfawefgawefg 2y ago
    [flagged]
wegfawefgawefg 2y ago
I grew up in a very international diverse environment, but I cant name a single popular movie, song, or other media that I knew is from China, other than the meme where John Cena is eating icecream. I suspect this is the same for over 95% of Americans. What soft power are you referring to exactly?
- Dalewyn 2y ago
  The soft power that had many (most?) young Americans screaming at the government for banning Tiktok. The soft power that catapulted Genshin Impact to the top of sales rankings across the entire world.[1] The soft power that led to China's incomprehensibly deep and wide spider web of financial influence.[2] The soft power that has us wearing Chinese blue jeans, to use Civilization lingo. If the west thinks this is a problem (and it probably is, at least I think it is) then we need to respond. Being in denial won't address anything. [1]: https://sensortower.com/blog/genshin-impact-three-billion-revenue https://sensortower.com/blog/genshin-impact-three-billion-re... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent#Foreign_studio_assets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent#Foreign_studio_assets
  - wegfawefgawefg 2y ago
    Excluding cultural icons, as I understand the definition, these are not examples of soft power. These are just power. Nobody here is denying china has an economic strength but that has nothing to do with soft power. Soft power has to do with cultural export, and china has none. Zero. Nothing. I am not in denial. Nobody outside of china gives a rats ass about chinese music or movies, or chinese blue jeans. They just know about the great wall, and about how horrible the government is.. Everyone thinks genshin is japanese, and loves japanese denim. And you cant just flag comments that you disagree with to make them dissapear. That might fly in china but thats not how civilized nations operate. The reason I accused you of being a wumao is because of the way you behave. Not because I am in denial. I am a native born american citizen. Never met anybody who knows a damn thing about chinese cultural exports. that is because there arent any.

pragmomm 2y ago

> average man is actually very pro-China survey would say otherwise: For the fifth year in a row, about eight-in-ten Americans report an unfavorable view of China https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2024/05/01/americans-remain-critical-of-china/ https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2024/05/01/americans-rema... In the 18 high-income countries we polled, views of China are, on balance, negative. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2024/07/09/views-of-china-and-xi-jinping/ https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2024/07/09/views-of-china...

Dalewyn 2y ago
I would take surveys with a large serving of salt. By their own admission, the American survey only concerned a selection of 3,600 by phone call, and those who refused to answer are not counted in the results. That's not going to create a reasonable representation, because for starters most people these days fucking hate junk calls. Also of note in that survey is that the anti-China sentiment is heavily biased towards older conservatives. That means the current and coming younger, more progressive generations are more pro-China, relatively speaking. This is China's investment into soft power blossoming in spades. As for the country survey, have a closer look at that breakdown: The west, to include Japan and South Korea, are anti-China as a collective. Most of the rest of the world is at worst neutral and at best pro-China; South and Central America is almost entirely pro-China including Mexico, the US's immediate neighbour to the south. Also, despite Indians' claimed anti-Chinese sentiment, India is also one of, if not the, China's biggest strategic ally if not necessarily a friend. Again, China's investment into soft power blossoming in spades. While the efficacy of American anti-Chinese propaganda is certainly debatable, it's clear the US and the west at large are losing the econo-cultural fight and need to respond somehow.
- wegfawefgawefg 2y ago
  [flagged]
fragmede 2y ago
Sure, but how many Americans have TikTok or Temu installed?
- glimshe 2y ago
  It's a free country. We can have a negative view of China while still doing business with them.

xenospn 2y ago

China can not achieve a cultural victory. They are exporting their form of government, but Chinese culture is still a mystery in the west to this day, unlike, say, Japan or Korea. Can you name one Chinese pop star or movie star? Other than the Hong Kong ones, I can’t.

Dalewyn 2y ago
I think you've missed the Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail craze, those two Chinese games took the global video game market by storm. I'm not going to mention the smaller hits like Arknights and Azur Lane and many more. Japanese and Korean pop culture are yesterday's news, Chinese pop culture is the current trend. And note, I say that very begrudgingly as a Japanese; even in Japan now the Chinese games are more popular than homegrown Japanese games.
- xenospn 2y ago
  [flagged]
  - Dalewyn 2y ago
    Thanks for the laugh, that was great. Seriously though, the tendrils of Chinese money run deep and wide to extents I'm sure most people simply can't realize. To demonstrate China's influence on video games around the world: Epic Games (USA), Ubisoft (USA), Riot Games (USA), Paradox Interactive (Sweden), Kadokawa (Japan), Marvelous (Japan), FromSoftware (Japan), Visual Arts Key (Japan), Netmarble (South Korea), Frontier Developments (UK), Digital Extremes (Canada), Roblox (USA), and Discord (USA) all have Chinese money in them through Tencent.[1] [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent#Foreign_studio_assets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent#Foreign_studio_assets And that is just Tencent in just video games (and Discord). I've not even gotten into all the other Chinese game development outfits yet, let alone other markets entirely like Tiktok and Temu as another commenter pointed out. Also, that list of Tencent influence was absolutely depressing to type out.
- wegfawefgawefg 2y ago
  [flagged]

wegfawefgawefg 2y ago

I grew up in a very international diverse environment, but I cant name a single popular movie, song, or other media that I knew is from China, other than the meme where John Cena is eating icecream. I suspect this is the same for over 95% of Americans. What soft power are you referring to exactly?

Dalewyn 2y ago
The soft power that had many (most?) young Americans screaming at the government for banning Tiktok. The soft power that catapulted Genshin Impact to the top of sales rankings across the entire world.[1] The soft power that led to China's incomprehensibly deep and wide spider web of financial influence.[2] The soft power that has us wearing Chinese blue jeans, to use Civilization lingo. If the west thinks this is a problem (and it probably is, at least I think it is) then we need to respond. Being in denial won't address anything. [1]: https://sensortower.com/blog/genshin-impact-three-billion-revenue https://sensortower.com/blog/genshin-impact-three-billion-re... [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent#Foreign_studio_assets https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tencent#Foreign_studio_assets
- wegfawefgawefg 2y ago
  Excluding cultural icons, as I understand the definition, these are not examples of soft power. These are just power. Nobody here is denying china has an economic strength but that has nothing to do with soft power. Soft power has to do with cultural export, and china has none. Zero. Nothing. I am not in denial. Nobody outside of china gives a rats ass about chinese music or movies, or chinese blue jeans. They just know about the great wall, and about how horrible the government is.. Everyone thinks genshin is japanese, and loves japanese denim. And you cant just flag comments that you disagree with to make them dissapear. That might fly in china but thats not how civilized nations operate. The reason I accused you of being a wumao is because of the way you behave. Not because I am in denial. I am a native born american citizen. Never met anybody who knows a damn thing about chinese cultural exports. that is because there arent any.