A very Chinese time? How memes are paving the way for a soft power shift
Western social media trends paint ‘Chineseness’ in a positive light, but observers question whether Beijing will benefit
The phrase has been popularised over the past year by influencers on TikTok and Instagram who post themselves performing stereotypically Chinese activities.
This has been partly shaped by political fatigue and polarisation in the United States, according to observers. However, some cautioned that it was unlikely to translate into a sustained change in attitudes towards China as a nation-state.
Shaoyu Yuan, an expert on soft power at New York University, said the trend reflected a broader transformation in how people experienced China online: not through official messaging or political headlines, but increasingly through entertainment, food and lifestyle routines.
He said this exposure made “Chineseness” feel familiar rather than foreign, and the perception of the trend as “authentic and playful” rather than forced was helpful for building soft power.