‘Soft power’ is even more important during times of sharp words and military bluster, but the cultural appeal of American culture and ideas has waned in China.
You can pretty reliably tell which nations they want you to hate by seeing who they name when they describe goals and actions. The designated bad guys are always driven by some leader, and the good guys are the name of the nation and/or its people.
Xi Jinping’s vision of a world where the U.S. and China are equal.
All of China probably shares that vision. Why wouldn’t they? Even those seeking China supremacy want that as a stepping stone. But it’s “Xi’s vision.” Because it’s easy to make people hate a man and difficult to make them hate a people.
Meanwhile, it’s the “people” of Taiwan that “yearn for freedom.” How often did you hear of Tsai Ing-Wen’s aspirations? I didn’t even know they had a change of president a week ago until I googled it just now. Strange for a nation that’s so often in the news here.
You can pretty reliably tell which nations they want you to hate by seeing who they name when they describe goals and actions. The designated bad guys are always driven by some leader, and the good guys are the name of the nation and/or its people.
All of China probably shares that vision. Why wouldn’t they? Even those seeking China supremacy want that as a stepping stone. But it’s “Xi’s vision.” Because it’s easy to make people hate a man and difficult to make them hate a people.
Meanwhile, it’s the “people” of Taiwan that “yearn for freedom.” How often did you hear of Tsai Ing-Wen’s aspirations? I didn’t even know they had a change of president a week ago until I googled it just now. Strange for a nation that’s so often in the news here.