J

ust recently a Chinese acquaintance of mine sent me a documentary produced by China Central Television (CCTV) entitled A Bite of China. Prior to this, I had told him that throughout all my visits to China I had struggled to find a decent show that portrayed Chinese cuisine.

In fact the documentary is available on YouTube and is dubbed by an English presenter. It got me thinking, through all the hours I spend flicking through the channels available on satellite TV, just how many contemporary Chinese shows am I aware of?

China’s soft power, it is safe to say, is fairly beaten by both Korea’s and Japan’s. More and more Indonesians are finding themselves attached to the latter two countries, as opposed to China.

One could randomly ask any Indonesian teenager what their favorite K-Pop artist/Japanese Manga is, and they would have an answer on the tip of their tongue.

However, this doesn’t mean that China is completely devoid of any soft power capability; it’s just not well received.

Both Korean and Japanese soft power have tapped into a certain theme that appeals to the mass audience here in Indonesia. Japan has exploited its Kawaii theme and transformed it into a prominent aspect of the Japanese culture (this theme has also been used by Korea, where it is called Aegyo).

While Korea took the influence of Western soft power (predominantly from the US), infused it with Korean elements and exported it under the Hallyu Wave banner.

China’s efforts to export its culture and soft power have so far been undermined by international and regional events, as well as the projection of its hard power. Chinese actions within the South China and East China seas have led several world powers to brand China as a hegemony that is constantly challenging its smaller neighbors with its military might.

Moreover, the constant civil disturbances that have occurred in Hong Kong have also somewhat tarnished China’s image.

For the Chinese, its ever expanding military force is not seen as a threat to regional stability. Rather, China constantly finds the need to flex its military muscles due to the continuous “intrusion” into its territory by the US and its allies.

This does not bode well for China in the long run. Even though China could try to woo friends using economic incentives (especially in developing countries), it will struggle greatly to win the hearts and minds of the local people.

Winning the trust of foreign governments does not guarantee holistic acceptance.

As an example, even though the Indonesian government has had a friendly relationship with Beijing ever since it reestablished diplomatic relations in 1995, most Indonesians still find it difficult to remove their negative sentiments of the Chinese people (including Chinese-Indonesians) and China in general.

Not to mention that Indonesians still perceive Chinese brands as being inferior in quality to Japanese/Korean brands (although there are improving sentiments in several sectors, such as mobile phones).

In addition to that, China needs to disentangle itself from the feeling of being “victimized” that has lingered ever since the World War II.

This is ever apparent in Chinese motion pictures, even in the 21st century, such as in Fearless, or the Ip Man film series. The Ip Man series offers a complete set of how the Ip Man character, played by Donnie Yen, became a Chinese hero after fighting out a Japanese general (Ip Man), a British professional boxer (Ip Man 2), and an American mob boss (Ip Man 3). While Fearless portrays the character Huo Yuanjia, played by Jet Li, who rose to prominence for defeating foreign fighters in a highly publicized match during the colonial era.

Although these movies have been positively received, it still gives the sense that China still positions itself as the victim of the contemporary international order. It is the time for China to wake up and shake itself up.

By disentangling itself from the feeling of being victimized, China could march forward with new found confidence and engage foreign powers on the same playing field.

There is still time for China to reroute its current trajectory from strengthening its hard power to loosening its soft power nerves. A great number of people wish to learn more and understand the Chinese culture. However, at the same time, they also wish for a China that is welcoming and does not feel victimized by foreign powers, because, the end of the day, all that we ever want is to experience A Bite of China.
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