Chinese Soft Power and Media Discussion and Updates

Wangxi said:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1765429014674735425

Jia Qingguo calls on Beijing to relax control to encourage non-govt efforts to tell China's story​

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And there are still people here who believe that soft power doesn't matter.

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Just because a professor wants to make a low-cost low-effort attempt to reflect China's story to those willing to listen, does not mean that it matters or has any outcome. To those who don't want to listen, (Americans and Westerners) it doesn't matter; their opinions are solidified against China by the hard power control of their governments. To those who do want to listen, it also doesn't matter because they are already receptive to China's angle and the truth is that Chinese actions are righteous so they will find it anyway; they have escaped American/Western hard power control. Jia's proposal relieves pressure on the government to maintain a monopoly or near monopoly, on information dissention, making it less than zero cost to implement. If it brings no benefit in PR, the lowered cost is justified. If it does increase PR even by the slightest, the benefits are 2 fold. But in no serious or major circumstance involving China's struggle and ascent to the top is this expected to make a tangible difference. Our enemies and friends on the international field are always defined by interests, which are driven by hard power; no one will ever be swayed into action by soft power words if the conditions to success and reward or punishment are not created by hard power. At most, your soft words will only get superficial words of support back.

manqiangrexue said:

Just because a professor wants to make a low-cost low-effort attempt to reflect China's story to those willing to listen, does not mean that it matters or has any outcome. To those who don't want to listen, (Americans and Westerners) it doesn't matter; their opinions are solidified against China by the hard power control of their governments. To those who do want to listen, it also doesn't matter because they are already receptive to China's angle and the truth is that Chinese actions are righteous so they will find it anyway; they have escaped American/Western hard power control. Jia's proposal relieves pressure on the government to maintain a monopoly or near monopoly, on information dissention, making it less than zero cost to implement. If it brings no benefit in PR, the lowered cost is justified. If it does increase PR even by the slightest, the benefits are 2 fold. But in no serious or major circumstance involving China's struggle and ascent to the top is this expected to make a tangible difference. Our enemies and friends on the international field are always defined by interests, which are driven by hard power; no one will ever be swayed into action by soft power words if the conditions to success and reward or punishment are not created by hard power. At most, your soft words will only get superficial words of support back.

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I can think of 1 situation where this could be useful: if soft power alone would cause a shift towards China in an undecided society that either

1. Forces adversaries to expend hard power to counter and suppress, keeping the status quo while eating costs

2. Forces adversaries to ignore it because of high hard power cost vs benefit and turn a neutral into an ally

FairAndUnbiased said:

I can think of 1 situation where this could be useful: if soft power alone would cause a shift towards China in an undecided society that either

1. Forces adversaries to expend hard power to counter and suppress, keeping the status quo while eating costs

2. Forces adversaries to ignore it because of high hard power cost vs benefit and turn a neutral into an ally

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In the end soft power is low cost and investment and is not a either or when choosing between soft and hard power. It might not convert hardliners to your view but it'll help keep neutrals neutral and counter the soft power of your opponents.

FairAndUnbiased said:

I can think of 1 situation where this could be useful: if soft power alone would cause a shift towards China in an undecided society that either

1. Forces adversaries to expend hard power to counter and suppress, keeping the status quo while eating costs

2. Forces adversaries to ignore it because of high hard power cost vs benefit and turn a neutral into an ally

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Firstly, these societies are generally not won over by stories and self-portrayals. They are won over by how impressed they are of the quality, price, and prevalence of Chinese products and construction in their countries. When they realize that Chinese goods make their lives so much better, and there is not enough active suppression of Chinese influence in their country, they tend to shift their opinions increasingly in favor of China.

Secondly, societies that are deemed too high in cost/effort vs reward to win over by the West are usually societies with very little use at all. It just doesn't matter if Tajikistan loves or hates the shit out of China; they can't help or hurt us really.

PeoplesPoster said:

In the end soft power is low cost and investment and is not a either or when choosing between soft and hard power. It might not convert hardliners to your view but it'll help keep neutrals neutral and counter the soft power of your opponents.

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Soft power can be low cost or it can be more expensive than anything one can possibly afford; it depends on where you want to spread that soft power. If it is in an uncontested and inconsequential area, then it might be, but attempting to win over major players, especially hostile actors, it's going to be all hard power. You could not afford an ounce of soft power with all your cost and investment in a hostile area that is under enemy hard power control. Soft power does not counter soft power. Hard power counters all and then clears the ground for soft power to move in.

manqiangrexue said:

Firstly, these societies are generally not won over by stories and self-portrayals. They are won over by how impressed they are of the quality, price, and prevalence of Chinese products and construction in their countries. When they realize that Chinese goods make their lives so much better, and there is not enough active suppression of Chinese influence in their country, they tend to shift their opinions increasingly in favor of China.

Secondly, societies that are deemed too high in cost/effort vs reward to win over by the West are usually societies with very little use at all. It just doesn't matter if Tajikistan loves or hates the shit out of China; they can't help or hurt us really.

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There's definitely countries that aren't US allies, have shit hard power of their own, yet behave irrationally in ways that go against their own interests despite Chinese trade. Some soft power helps them see reason so to speak.

IDK about west being disinterested = useless, everyone is possibly useful at some point. Nobody passes up free help. Kiribati is uselessly weak, but not if they offer a space tracking station site for instance. Even the weakest sovereign nation is still a sovereign nation and can be used for things like export reshipment or UN votes.

And if they become interested in a place that China was able to win over at no additional cost, just regular trade, then they have to expend hard power to reverse Chinese gains.

Soft power indeed isn't as important as hard power but it can definitely either lower costs for yourself or increase cost for adversaries.

Honestly even with a flood of indian astroturfers online constantly singing the praises of the country, the overall sentiment of India as a country on the internet remains quite negative. As long as western media control the mainstream narrative, the effect of flooding the internet with pro-chinese users are limited.

tankphobia said:

Honestly even with a flood of indian astroturfers online constantly singing the praises of the country, the overall sentiment of India as a country on the internet remains quite negative. As long as western media control the mainstream narrative, the effect of flooding the internet with pro-chinese users are limited.

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well Taiwanese astroturfers succeeded despite having basically 0 media products or cultural power that westerners care about. Apparently Trump's pro Taiwan stance was astroturfed by Taiwanese independence lobbyists in the US and took on a life of its own.

this is not well known but surprisingly well documented.

FairAndUnbiased said:

There's definitely countries that aren't US allies, have shit hard power of their own, yet behave irrationally in ways that go against their own interests despite Chinese trade. Some soft power helps them see reason so to speak.

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There are likely unseen forces causing them to do so, specifically American 3 letter agencies. And these places are usually horribly managed and overall too stupid to get anything done. After all, they have shit hard power and they keep allowing American sabotage to prevent them from forming a financial relationship with China that will benefit them so how competent are these people?

FairAndUnbiased said:

IDK about west being disinterested = useless, everyone is possibly useful at some point. Nobody passes up free help. Kiribati is uselessly weak, but not if they offer a space tracking station site for instance. Even the weakest sovereign nation is still a sovereign nation and can be used for things like export reshipment or UN votes.

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Relatively useless, not completely. But in general, if it's not worth the effort for the West to fight to win over a country, the limits of its uses would mean that it's basically not worth the effort for China as well.

FairAndUnbiased said:

And if they become interested in a place that China was able to win over at no additional cost, just regular trade, then they have to expend hard power to reverse Chinese gains.

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Hard power is not really expended; it's exercised. The expendable type, ie providing financial assistance, building infrastructure, America cannot compete with China. The type that the US would exercise in this event, would be instigating color rebellions and coupes for regime change. To counter this, China can only rely on its hard power, which is to put agents in these countries that detect and eliminate American tentacles before they can do their work.

FairAndUnbiased said:

Soft power indeed isn't as important as hard power but it can definitely either lower costs for yourself or increase cost for adversaries.

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Except in order to have that soft power in place, your hard power has to have already won, thus creating the friendly and nurturing environment that is mandatory for soft power to grow at all. Winning again only after already winning is just... whatever. It's all hard power.

tankphobia said:

Honestly even with a flood of indian astroturfers online constantly singing the praises of the country, the overall sentiment of India as a country on the internet remains quite negative. As long as western media control the mainstream narrative, the effect of flooding the internet with pro-chinese users are limited.

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Just flooding the internet with government-paid trolls is not a soft power.

xypher said:

Just flooding the internet with government-paid trolls is not a soft power.

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How the world outside of your border perceives you is a part of soft power. In democratic countries public sentiment will inevitably affect policy making, hence if used precisely, propaganda can lead to positive sentiment > positive policy returns.

A good example of this is NATO inaction during 2014. Russia had flooded the internet at that time and led to widespread indifference.