For Chinese culture to be a global hit, Beijing has to learn from Japan’s J-pop and South Korea’s hallyu
- As Chinese state-led soft culture efforts bump up against US-led scepticism, China needs to learn to tell its stories more concisely – and allow the entertainment sector greater creative freedom to do so
There are several reasons for this. It is easy to point the finger at the notorious censorship laws but this is not the full picture.
The culture industry, even with all its vices and controversial expressions, needs to be free and be driven by the private sector to reach its potential. Too much government meddling is simply counterproductive.
The rise of Japanese pornography, for instance, has been annoying to many Japanese citizens and paints an inaccurate picture of them globally, but Japan has not taken any steps to restrict its growth. Rather, it is pouring more resources into positive portrayals of its culture.
These are what the world broadly understands about these two nations after vigorous promotions by their societies. Granted, Japanese and Korean cultures offer much more, and that is for interested foreigners to explore, based on easily grasped first impressions.
These examples highlight the incredible identity struggles of such an impressively diverse country as China, even among its majority Han population, let alone the other 55 ethnic groups.
This is not new. Many elderly Japanese will not easily forget US efforts to badmouth Japanese culture in the 1980s, when Japan became an economic competitor to the US, even as it remained a strategic political and military ally. South Korea is luckier. It has few economic and political disputes with the US and its soft culture rise has never really been questioned by the West.
Today’s China is not only an economic competitor but also, due to a Communist, one-party rule seen as authoritarian, inevitably poses the strongest political challenge to US global interests.
Understandably, America, dominant in global politics and cultural might, is resistant. It cannot afford to lose the “culture war” to China, and so focuses on human rights issues.
US scrutiny of its allies pales in comparison, which the Chinese deem hypocritical. The result is that, while Americans may not be hostile towards Chinese people, many Americans and even some Europeans have developed reservations about the Chinese government and its intentions.
Overcoming this challenge requires openness and a much more concise and less politicised direction in telling the tales of great Chinese culture, but it is a price worth paying. Culture, after all, unlike trade, is fluid, and cultural exchanges are best achieved between open and confident societies.
Chee Yik-wai is a Malaysia-based intercultural specialist and the co-founder of Crowdsukan, focusing on sport diplomacy for peace and development