Opinion
Letzte Aktualisierung: September 16, 2022
China's true soft power
By Johnny Erling
The People's Republic is trying to exert influence across the globe with lots of money and even more propaganda, with Confucius Institutes and cultural projects of all kinds. Threats and economic coercion are part of the repertoire. So far, all efforts have been in vain. In the West, Beijing is only running up against ever higher walls. Although it does have effective means at its disposal to exploit its soft powers. One of these, which it once wielded to make foreigners' mouths water, is China's cuisine.
The US is open about most of its diplomatic state secrets. After 25 years, they are declassified and disclosed. That includes the historic 1972 visit to China by US President Richard Nixon to pay his respects to China's Mao.