International laowhy86: China isn't gonna be #1

[Eusung]

This guy lived in China for a long time and came back to America a couple years ago. He does a lot of China related content.

-Says China has no soft power. People around the world don't view China as a cool country.
-Says China showed their true colors too early to the whole world
-Says China's military is way behind.
-Says Chinese state media + international media are obsessed with "China is gonna take over the world" because it drives views/clicks.

Thoughts?

 

[TheMaster]

This guy lived in China for a long time and came back to America a couple years ago. He does a lot of China related content.

-Says China has no soft power. People around the world don't view China as a cool country.
-Says the whole world looks at China unfavorably now
-Says China's military is way behind.

Thoughts?

The West created modern China. It isn't the product of the Chinese mind.

 

[JSN]

I don’t think he has any special knowledge other than what it’s like to teach English in China.

 

[Yehudim]

While I actually agree with every point, soft power doesn’t matter when you have big guns.

The Soviet Union didn’t have much soft power in the eastern bloc, but they did control them.

 

[HockeyBjj]

Wow. This YouTube video interviewing a random guy on the street totally brings deep insight and will convince many people

China isn’t “cool” enough to be the most economically influential country in the world. Wow. Amazing.

 

[Fanu]

Thoughts?

Stop watching random youtubers and forming political (scientific, religious, whichever) opinions based on their videos

most of youtube turned into clickbait and advertising dollars - you can't believe most of them (only those who have respectable careers outside of youtube, for example youtubers like lex friedman)

 

[Sir Burton]

A. I don’t think he is alone with these opinions.

B. We’re supposed to listen to him and, I’m assuming, hold his opinions in high regard…because he lived there for a few years?

 

[MicroBrew]

I don’t think he has any special knowledge other than what it’s like to teach English in China.

A. I don’t think he is alone with these opinions.

B. We’re supposed to listen to him and, I’m assuming, hold his opinions in high regard…because he lived there for a few years?

He's lived there for over 10 years. Married a Chinese woman. Has travelled all over China and documented it on YouTube. He is fluent in Mandarin, which most expats aren't.

 

[MicroBrew]

While I actually agree with every point, soft power doesn’t matter when you have big guns.

The Soviet Union didn’t have much soft power in the eastern bloc, but they did control them.

Soft power is a huge deal. The reason Saudi Arabia is influential and powerfull is because - other than oil- they are home to Islam's two holiest shrines, which gives them tremendous soft power. The US isn't the world leader only because of its military and economy, it is soft power like having the best universities and our celebrity / Hollywood culture. Israel can get away with a lot of things, in part because of the massive of soft power it weilds in the West.

 

[Hadron90]

The first two things aren't really relevant, and the 3rd I doubt he is qualified to assess.

 

[Yehudim]

Soft power is a huge deal. The reason Saudi Arabia is influential and powerfull is because - other than oil- they are home to Islam's two holiest shrines, which gives them tremendous soft power. The US isn't the world leader only because of its military and economy, it is soft power like having the best universities and our celebrity / Hollywood culture. Israel can get away with a lot of things, in part because of the massive of soft power it weilds in the West.

You don't understand my point, I am saying that China has lost the little soft power they've had but that soft power is not really relevant if you're strong enough.

 

[MicroBrew]

You don't understand my point, I am saying that China has lost the little soft power they've had but that soft power is not really relevant if you're strong enough.

They can't take on the whole world, even America was never strong enough to do that. In relatively free countries, i.e. countries not run by a authoritarian regime, China needs soft power to get people to side with it over the US.

 

[Sauron]

I don't think that's true. Economic power is everything. Soft power is a force multiplier.

Europeans relate more to Americans because we share a common heritage. However there's nothing that compels Asia to feel the same way.

I think this idea that China wants to take over the world isn't grounded in reality either. Its also predicated on the belief that other countries will pursue the US interest in containing China over their own interests in selling to China.

 

[Nimrod]

Any regime that relies on infantizing its population will never succeed in the long run ..

 

[jefferz]

He's lived there for over 10 years. Married a Chinese woman. Has travelled all over China and documented it on YouTube. He is fluent in Mandarin, which most expats aren't.

And also goes by the nickname C-Milk.

 

[JSN]

He's lived there for over 10 years. Married a Chinese woman. Has travelled all over China and documented it on YouTube. He is fluent in Mandarin, which most expats aren't.

Think about it though. Do you put much stock into an American’s opinion on America’s geopolitical standing based on speaking English and having traveled around?

 

[MicroBrew]

Think about it though. Do you put much stock into an American’s opinion on America’s geopolitical standing based on speaking English and having traveled around?

The things he says that sound believable are about Chinese culture and some aspects of CCP rule because I've heard the same elsewhere.

I wouldn't believe or disbelieve what he says about the strenght of their military.

 

[Oceanmachine]

Soft power they dont really have. Russians have way more than them at this point, you never meet anyone but Chinese who like China.

What China has though is money so much they got Muslim nations to be silent while they harm Muslims inside China. I think their only friend is Laos, and sort of Vietnam but Vietnam people dont like China. Oh and Singapore, a ton of chinese oligarchs and chinese nationalist live their now

 

[robotsonic]

Arabs and Russians plough billions into European soccer clubs in an attempt to make them and their countrymen more palatable to the rest of the world. Abramovich is banned from the UK and he still pours money into Chelsea. Soft power is VERY important in world politics, and countries are willing to lose lots of money as long as long term political goals are achieved. Hard to spread your culture when people despise it.

 

[Sauron]

Arabs and Russians plough billions into European soccer clubs in an attempt to make them and their countrymen more palatable to the rest of the world. Abramovich is banned from the UK and he still pours money into Chelsea. Soft power is VERY important in world politics, and countries are willing to lose lots of money as long as long term political goals are achieved. Hard to spread your culture when people despise it.

Both Russia and China have a rich cultural heritage. Only a person with no knowledge of history would say otherwise. Let's not confuse culture with political systems.

I'm a firm believer that it's money and economy that drives power relationships. Nobody is talking about the soft power of Denmark because despite being wonderful, it's a tiny country with no power.

Soft power is a by product of nations that do well and can invest in the creative arts, intellectual activities and for lack of a better word, propaganda, to show their face to the world. But it's coming: Chinese video games, movies, the whole shebang.

At this moment China is all business. It's functional, uncouth and driven. But that's just temporary. Nearly all powerful countries translate wealth into cultural output. The idea that the Chinese won't is absurd. Need we remind everyone that China has about 5000 years of documented history while the US has several hundred.

A better argument is that authoritative systems stifle cultural output and actually stop them from building soft-power through excessive control.

I think the problems for Americans is that they just can't see why the Chinese would want their country to be successful. That sort of blindness prevents any coherent understanding of another.