China’s Slow Colonization of America’s Soft Power

Colonization can be defined as a way of establishing control over a given area or domain to your own benefit. In my last article, soft power was referred to as the ability to shape the preferences of others or essentially when one country influences the desired outcomes of other states through persuasion, education, public opinion, and appeal of cultural ideals and customs.

For starters, America’s soft power and generally western European values have shaped for years the push for democracy, human rights, freedom of speech among other things across the globe with great effect whether you are talking about the lead to the collapse of the Berlin wall marking the end of the Cold war or democratic struggles in Africa, Asia and South America. However, the rise of China as a global power with an economy only second to the United States has raised concerns as to whether they can be tamed by such values.

In his book on soft power, Joseph Nye clearly states how Western music, movies and radio stations helped change perceptions in Eastern Europe at a time when communism was the thing. In the end, several countries in Eastern Europe that left the Soviet bloc quickly embraced capitalism and democracy. It is important to remember that China is not USSR! They have the money.

The NBA led by the likes of Lebron James has been very vocal on racial injustice in the United States something that is commendable. The recent global protests over the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police show how influential what comes out of America is whether positive or negative. What is of concern is that when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted an image that read, “Fight for Freedom. Stand for Hong Kong.”, amidst anti-Beijing protests, Chinese companies and Basketball Association severed ties with the Rockets. Apologies followed from the NBA Commissioner but it all comes down to money considering China with over one billion people is essentially its most important market.

This is not a problem of the NBA alone, the same applies to Hollywood where a scene carrying the flag of Taiwan is now a taboo. Never mind that Taiwan is a democratic state. Content deemed unacceptable to China is removed from movies. Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian wrote in Axios that “China is censoring Hollywood’s imagination” with the aim of preventing American and global audiences from imagining the Chinese Communist Party as a major threat or viewing victims of China’s oppression as worthy of sympathy. Chinese box office hit 9 billion dollars last year making it second and close to North America’s box office that stood at 11 billion dollars. Again, the money.

Companies like Nike that rake in billions from the Chinese market cannot support social justice causes in China the way they do in the United States even with claims of Uighur Muslim ‘genocide’. To their credit, American media has tried to highlight some of these things at the expense of being kicked out as was the case with the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. When it comes to international institutions that provide a platform for negotiations, persuasion and co-operation, China has increased her influence not only in the World Health Organization but even the United Nations with Chinese nationals strategically heading various U.N agencies.

In Africa, a good amount of funds from China may be stolen yet we have stadiums, roads and railways to talk about. When funds from America are stolen, what Africans are left to talk about are rich politicians and their cronies. It is actually easier for someone on the streets to identify a road built by the Chinese than trying to figure out which power line is a product of Obama’s ‘Power Africa’ initiative.

Time will tell how damaging this may turn out to be or not although it is crystal clear that China which has been enhancing her military capabilities, has found a weapon in economic strength to muzzle America’s soft power especially that possessed by non-state actors. This is not only about replacing existing power platforms, it is about dominion. The United States is still the world’s only super power but Beijing knows where to punch and if they survive Trump’s trade war, the next occupant of the White House will likely not have much leverage left against them.