Beatles are British. Didn't save the British Empire.
None of these are soft power at all because soft power does not exist. They are an extension of American hard power. None of these would be possible if the US did not dominate over the narratives of the countries that follow it and none of them would follow the US were it not for its hard power. Basically, the US got them together and said to them that they need to work together under American leadership, accept sacrifices and feed lies to their people because desperate times call for desperate measures and if they let the US fall, Anglo power will recede and Chinese power will dominate and that will be bad for all of these countries. There is only hard power and non-violent extensions of hard power. There is no such thing as soft power because without hard power, there is no power, only begging and acting cute. The core of the concept of power is to achieve one's goals through conflict. There is no example of a country that can prevail through conflict with only soft "power" and those who think that is has happened are only confusing non-violent extenstions of hard power (such as bribes and threats) with soft "power."
This is called entertainment for making money. Nobody is saying that China shouldn't have a strong entertainment industry but your entertainment industry has absolutely no power to help you when your country's goals conflict with a rivals. Nobody will throw anything of substance to you at thier own detriment because you entertain them and that is the point of power. Cooperation is easy when the goals align but power is needed when goals clash to ensure that you get your way no matter what. And when something doesn't help you during situations of conflicted interest, it is no power at all.
People that (sic) lack understanding of the concept of soft power (which is fraught in itself) see "soft power" everywhere grasping at straws. They continue to claim its importance because they are confused and think that making foods (which no country in the world can hold a flame to China as it is) and entertainment is soft power... they are indeed important because if you don't make them then your country will spend massive amounts of money importing them, but it is not soft or any kind of power except perhaps financial power when the profits roll in.
The value of American currency may go up and down; that is not enough to shake its dominance. And the Yuan can gain in usage, but there is a limit. American allies do control most of the world economy and as long as it can twist their arms to accept the dollar as the dominant currency, the dollar cannot fall. Furthermore, there is no currency that is suitable to be the new reserve currency because a reserve currency must be from an import-oriented mega-economy willing to put out massive amounts of it in the world. In short, there is no clear or close victory over the dollar, not yet.
How does IMF come up with these figures? What's their methodology?
Zero COVID is the cornerstone of Chinese services growth. People are demanding it. If government doesn't impose zero COVID expect self quarantine, taking vacation to self lockdown, and for those who can't, riots and mob violence targeting those seen as disease spreaders.
