TOPIC

China’s soft power

Illustration: Craig Stephens
China economy

Opinion | With visa-free initiative, China is betting on a simple truth

China is ready for the world to witness its development, experience its culture and engage with its people.

videocam
Japan

Opinion | Japan’s soft power renaissance will help it attract the talent it needs

videocam
China's economic recovery

Why has Shandong been given a key role in Beijing’s soft power push?

videocam
Education

Being Chinese | In US vs Chinese soft power, guess how children are voting?

As children around me get sucked into the rabbit hole of Disney, Marvel and Netflix, I wonder about the reach of Chinese culture.

4
Children have a chat at Shanghai Disney Resort in 2020. Photo: Reuters
Hong Kong economy

Editorial | Hong Kong story best told through honest and open discussions

Talks in Britain and Spain by Financial Secretary Paul Chan brought much-needed direct engagement with political and business sectors in both countries.

Science

What time is it on the moon? China and the US are racing to decide

The space rivals are spearheading separate initiatives to create time standards that will be used to coordinate international lunar missions.

45
Advertisement
Advertisement
South China Sea

Is China downplaying ‘restrained’ clash with fishermen near Paracel Islands?

Vietnam says Chinese personnel boarded a local fishing boat on Sunday and beat the crew with iron bars, seriously injuring four of them.

videocam
37
Fishermen pulling their net on Vietnam’s offshore Ly Son island, the country’s closest island to the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. Photo: AFP
US-China relations

Opinion | Can China football find success in a market-driven US model?

Creating a college sports system in China could fix the country’s struggles in team sports and open new avenues for US-China cooperation.

videocam
Diplomacy

Inside Out | China-Africa summit a fitting showcase of Global South’s rise

The deals sealed and friendships renewed at FOCAC summit underline China’s role as a prime force of global power rebalancing.

videocam
Chinese culture

Editorial | Younger generation spreads China culture from the ground up

The runaway success of Black Myth: Wukong has prompted analysts to praise it as a lift for cultural confidence that could advance Beijing’s soft-power agenda.

Black Myth: Wukong is a video game inspired by the Chinese classic Journey to the West. Photo: Xinhua
Diplomacy

Opinion | China’s soft power is making its mark as US doubles down on military might

While the US seems focused on military alliances, Beijing is holding out a vision of economic collaboration and trust between civilisations.

videocam
11
Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (second left) attend the China-Africa Leaders’ Roundtable Dialogue on the last day of the Brics Summit, in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 24, 2023. Photo: AP
China technology

My Take | Black Myth: Wukong is a learning moment in soft power

There will always be fans and haters. Learn to step back, relax and let your supporters defend and fight for you.

9
Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Xi praises China’s Olympians for winning ‘glory for the country and people’

President Xi Jinping meets country’s athletes at event in Beijing and says they won with ‘morality and integrity’.

videocam
32
My Take

My Take | Can China present a ‘credible, lovable and respectable’ image to the world?

The country may be counting on support from the Global South but concern about Beijing’s behaviour is not just confined to the West.

videocam
32
Deng Xiaoping’s favoured approach appears to have been abandoned. Photo: AP
Hong Kong politics

Hong Kong plays key role in promoting Taiwan’s reunification, top official says

In first visit by head of United Front Work Department since 2015, Shi Taifeng says ‘one country, two systems’ instrumental in rejoining Taiwan with motherland.

videocam
74
Shi Taifeng, director of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, attends the Overseas Chinese World Conference for Promoting Peaceful Reunification of China in Hong Kong. Photo: Jonathan Wong
China-Asean relations

Letters | China’s reform plan holds promise for Southeast Asia

Readers discuss the benefits of China’s reform push, the growing buzz around boys’ love, and Hong Kong’s property market.

China-EU relations

Can China’s charm offensive revive ties with central and eastern Europe?

Beijing attempts to woo Balkan and Central European countries, but faces scepticism over Russia relations and stalled cooperation mechanism.

videocam
7
Advertisement
Advertisement
Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Olympic hangover begins, with China and Hong Kong eyeing greater success in LA

The morning after night before brings realisation that preparations for the 2028 Games cannot start too soon, while hosts France face return of domestic woes swept under rug two weeks ago.

videocam
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo (right) waves the Olympic flag next to International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach during closing ceremony. Photo: AFP
United States

US-China sister-city project, meant to build bridges, targeted as countries spar

After a state law in Indiana barred new partnerships, two cities with ties to Xiangyang take opposite approaches.

videocam
8
China economy

Opinion | China’s tourism policy must now go beyond visa-free travel

China must make it easier for foreigners to experience the country and citizens to travel abroad if it wants to reconnect with the world.

videocam
Fame and celebrity

Letters | Like it or not, Chinese ‘boys’ love’ fiction is popular in the West

Readers discuss the resilience of an officially frowned-upon genre, Hong Kong’s bilingual culture, and neon signs.

Xiao Zhan (right) and Wang Yibo (left) in The Untamed. “Boys’ love” has given rise to many phenomenally successful Chinese internet novels that have been turned into wildly popular television drama series and spawned English translations. Photo: Tencent Penguin Pictures
Diplomacy

Opinion | China could tell its story better by telling the whole story, warts and all

The most compelling stories are the human ones. China must allow books and films that don’t always portray it in glowing terms.

videocam
8
A bookshop in Foshan, Guangdong province, seen on December 15, 2021. China has not produced enough titles that both explain China and genuinely appeal to Western readers. The problem lies with the authorities’ overly strict control. Photo: AFP
US-China relations

Opinion | Want Americans to care about Chinese history? Emphasise their role in it

While US interest in China’s ancient artefacts may be limited, more Americans might care if the narrative includes their efforts to return lost relics.

videocam
4
Malaysia

Asian Angle | Chinese community still fiercely Malaysian despite pride in China’s rise

The local Chinese community has forged a cultural identity with traits that are distinctly Malaysian, even as re-Sinicisation becomes a contentious issue.

videocam
6
US-China relations

Panda fever hits Washington’s National Zoo early, as does donation drive

Zoo will pay US$1 million a year to a China wildlife group, with aim of raising US$25 million to ‘secure a future’ for the bears in nation’s capital.

6
Banners announcing the coming arrival of giant pandas at the National Zoo in Washington. Photo: SCMP
Tourism

Barrier to entry at China’s museums may translate to tourism losses

Visitors who cannot pre-book through Chinese apps – requiring a WeChat account and ability to read Chinese – are locked out of many attractions. These obstacles may affect China’s soft power abroad as well as tourism, say analysts.

videocam
19
Illustration: Henry Wong
US-China relations

Panda diplomacy is back: China sending pair of bears to US by end of 2024

Planned arrival of rare bears at American capital breathes new life into decades-long conservation partnership amid tense Sino-US ties.

videocam
6
China’s Communist Party

China’s local governments shut down social media accounts as budgets shrink

Once seen as propaganda tool, agency apps and websites disappear as funding cuts, staff shortages and internet trolls make maintenance a ‘burden’.

videocam
Advertisement
Advertisement
Help preserve 120 years of quality journalism.
SUPPORT NOW
China’s soft power
The latest news, analysis and opinion on China’s soft power. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.
last updated:
9 September, 2024
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement