Chinese Soft Power and Media Discussion and Updates
- Thread starter tankphobia
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China is the world’s second-largest economy. Its entertainment industry produces hundreds of films and series each year, often rivaling Hollywood in technical quality. It has the second-biggest box office market globally. And yet, on major Western streaming platforms—Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu—China simply does not exist. No films, no shows, no dramas. Nothing.
Strangely, you'll find Kazakh dramas, Icelandic thrillers, Mongolian documentaries about yak racing—but not a single recent production from Beijing or Shanghai. This isn’t an oversight. It’s a decision.
According to top industry sources like Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Foreign Policy, China’s absence from Western streaming is not a coincidence, but a deliberate act of exclusion—a form of censorship in reverse, born of political tension, fear, and cultural hypocrisy.
Yes, China’s own censorship apparatus is strict and suffocating. Many of its productions are heavily edited, ideologically aligned, and controlled by the Party. But the West responds not by selecting carefully or offering critical context—instead, it chooses to erase the country altogether.
The result is a cultural blackout. Western platforms would rather host dissident North Korean films than a modern Chinese comedy. The Western audience is denied not just propaganda (which can be critiqued), but also the human stories, complexities, and contradictions that make up contemporary Chinese society.
There’s also fear of public backlash. A Chinese film—regardless of content—might provoke outrage, boycotts, or accusations of sympathizing with an authoritarian regime. To avoid that, platforms preemptively silence everything.
This is not just a cultural misstep. It’s a disturbing sign of the times. While preaching “diversity” and “inclusion,” we accept the total erasure of one of the world’s most influential cultures—out of fear, distrust, or political convenience.
The result is not just a thinner catalog. It’s a conscious abandonment of intellectual curiosity, global engagement, and the basic freedom to see the world through someone else’s lens.
Strangely, you'll find Kazakh dramas, Icelandic thrillers, Mongolian documentaries about yak racing—but not a single recent production from Beijing or Shanghai. This isn’t an oversight. It’s a decision.
According to top industry sources like Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Foreign Policy, China’s absence from Western streaming is not a coincidence, but a deliberate act of exclusion—a form of censorship in reverse, born of political tension, fear, and cultural hypocrisy.
Yes, China’s own censorship apparatus is strict and suffocating. Many of its productions are heavily edited, ideologically aligned, and controlled by the Party. But the West responds not by selecting carefully or offering critical context—instead, it chooses to erase the country altogether.
The result is a cultural blackout. Western platforms would rather host dissident North Korean films than a modern Chinese comedy. The Western audience is denied not just propaganda (which can be critiqued), but also the human stories, complexities, and contradictions that make up contemporary Chinese society.
There’s also fear of public backlash. A Chinese film—regardless of content—might provoke outrage, boycotts, or accusations of sympathizing with an authoritarian regime. To avoid that, platforms preemptively silence everything.
This is not just a cultural misstep. It’s a disturbing sign of the times. While preaching “diversity” and “inclusion,” we accept the total erasure of one of the world’s most influential cultures—out of fear, distrust, or political convenience.
The result is not just a thinner catalog. It’s a conscious abandonment of intellectual curiosity, global engagement, and the basic freedom to see the world through someone else’s lens.
Its OK. With hard power you can do anything.
Japanese and South Koreans didn't start enjoying baseball due to an ancient tradition of baseball.
They had baseball jammed down their throat at gunpoint when Japan lost WW2 and their Korean ex colonies followed.
Jpop is known, and Kpop is suspected, of being tools of foreign domination over their populations.
Honestly, soft power is vastly overrated. Just look at how little Korea and Japan gets out of theirs. They get a few more tourists and that's about it. In comparison, Western media has tried to poison China's world image but it's still growing swiftly, especially in the global south.
I agree that Chinese cinema and pop culture is under-represented but it is far from completely absent on Netflix:
I think soft power is actually useful but South Korea and Japan really have 0 soft power. They have a minor media industry. Minor because even Genshin Impact alone makes more money than half of all Kpop put together.
Power is defined as the ability to make people behave according to your interests. What is bigger than people willing to fight for your cause without pay?
Nobody will pick up weapons for Pikachu or BlackPink.
But plenty of people pick up weapons or risk arrest, deportation, etc for religion or ideology.
South Korea and Japan have less soft power than Iran.
Only America has what we call "Soft power". Soft power is when you bomb Japan to pieces but Japan still love you to death. Soft power is when JD Vance call your country "peasants" but your student still come to study. That is called "soft power". One can do what other people cannot. China or Russia has hard power but their soft power is as little as North Korea or Vietnam.
Funny thing too is that China still gets more international tourists than South Korea.
Makes sense, Japan at least has the unique temple and castle architecture. Whereas if you've been to the Forbidden City, you've seen 90% of all the historical sites SK has to offer. After which, the only thing to do is shop for cosmetics and why bother when you can do that online.