There’s a perception that the Chinese cultural exports we do get are so “regionalized” that they won’t be accessible to people who didn’t spend years immersed in the culture and history.

That’s fine! That’s good.

Like, half of anime is exactly that. The audience likes being exposed to the culture and things that don’t easily translate. They like learning specific words and concepts that can’t be translated easily “nakama” being important in One Piece for example. ProZD makes a total joke of this but it’s a good example of what I mean: https://youtu.be/YvNxgHTWIlo

The audience will learn, they will borrow the words that can’t be translated, they will build culture and community around it all, they will gatekeep and get annoyed at people who aren’t hardcore enough, etc etc. It will ALL be positive for China’s overall perception in the longterm. The difference between a normal person and a weeaboo is literally that knowledge and the “haha I know more than you” attitude people get about it. That’s fine. It’s just how it is. All of that shit would wrap itself up in Sinaboo or whatever too, if a commitment to the cultural produce and export was really made.