#China's Influence

[dailyworldecho]

[xtruss]

World: The West Isn't Buying Into China's Year of Diplomacy

Chinese President Xi Jinping at a press conference in Shaanxi, on May 19, 2023. A new poll indicates that the West does not believe that China is contributing to Global Security. Florence Lo/Pool/AFP Via Getty Images

Western nations increasingly see China as an interventionist power that is not improving global security, according to recent polling, as Beijing struggles to square its desired peacemaker image with the political realities of its expanding global influence.

The Pew Research Center conducted a 30,000-person survey across 24 nations between February and May and found that people living in European, North American and Indo-Pacific democracies are particularly wary of China's influence. The sentiment was less strong, though still present, among African and South American respondents.

A median of 71 percent of the 30,000 people polled felt that China does not contribute either much or at all to international peace and stability, versus 23 percent who felt China does. Americans (80 percent), Dutch (86 percent), British (80 percent), Germans (80 percent), and French (75 percent) were among those who felt most strongly that Beijing is a negative influence on global affairs.

Democratic Indo-Pacific nations emphatically agreed, with 87 percent of South Koreans, 85 percent of Australians, and 85 percent of Japanese feeling the same.

The list of nations—the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland and South Africa, and Australia—is dominated by Western liberal democracies, with inherent ideological tensions likely somewhat explaining the negative views of Chinese foreign influence.

But only in Indonesia, Kenya and Nigeria did a majority of respondents say Beijing contributes either a fair amount or a great deal to international peace and stability.

Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry via email for comment.

China—already considered by many an economic and technological superpower—is still shaping its military and diplomatic clout abroad. Major decades-long investment in the former is openly intended to eventually challenge American hegemony, but on the diplomatic battlefield, Beijing is following a less publicly combative path.

Among the salient diplomatic issues that have helped shape global opinions of China this year are one striking success and one ongoing failure.

The former was the landmark Iran-Saudi Arabia normalization deal signed in April, in which China unexpectedly brokered a détente few thought likely given the deep and historic animosity between the Middle East's power players.

But China's unconvincing neutrality regarding Russia's war on Ukraine has somewhat eroded global trust in Beijing, particularly among the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific nations rallying to Kyiv's cause. China's de facto backing for Russia has undermined its continued calls for peace and the anemic peace plan it proposed in March.

North vs. South

Larger issues involving China—among them the fate of Taiwan, the situation in the South China Sea, lingering frustrations about the pandemic, the brewing showdown with the U.S., human rights, and concerns about political interference—have "completely dwarfed" Beijing's diplomatic efforts, Andrew Small, a senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund, told Newsweek.

"Publics have evidently not seen either the Saudi-Iranian deal as particularly significant or the Chinese efforts on Ukraine as particularly credible," Small said.

Small noted Beijing will not necessarily be too concerned with continued Western skepticism.

"In one sense, the argument for what China has been trying to do on Ukraine and in some of these other efforts was positioning in the 'Global South,'" he said. "The view on their side had been that no one in Europe is going to take this seriously, but they are able to position themselves through this in the Global South as an actor that approaches these issues in a neutral way."

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and China's President Xi Jinping deliver a joint statement in Moscow, on March 21, 2023. China's de facto support of Russia's war on Ukraine has angered Western nations. Mikhail Tereshchenko/Sputnik/AFP Via Getty Images

But the poll's findings also suggest that Beijing's self-framing might not be playing out as it hoped. A median of 57 percent of those surveyed said they felt China interferes in other countries affairs either a fair amount or a great deal.

The sentiment was most notable in Europe, where a majority of national respondents excluding Hungarians agreed, as well as in North America. A majority of all those in Indo-Pacific nations apart from Indonesia saw Beijing as interventionist.

Even in the four of the six African and South American nations surveyed a majority said China intervened at least somewhat in other countries' affairs. Fifty percent of South Africans and 46 percent of Argentinians also agreed.

"It's such a mantra in Chinese foreign policy, so foundational in the way that they frame things that this is not what they do, and it is the antithesis of the Western approach," Small said.

Against this backdrop, Small added, it is "striking" to see so many nations feeling that China is indeed intervening abroad. The data suggests, he said, that the perception of Chinese anti-interventionism is being "shredded."

Recent months have seen a renewed China-U.S. effort to thaw chilly bilateral relations. In June, Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. And earlier this week, Blinken told CNN the U.S. wants to "put some stability into the relationship."

But the long-term disputes show no signs of easing. While visiting Tonga this week, Blinken hit out at what he called China's "increasingly problematic behavior" in the Indo-Pacific.

In Europe too, major nations are increasingly concerned about Chinese espionage and influence, even if leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are still courting investment.

Worsening Euro-Atlantic ties with Beijing, Small said, might accelerate a brewing confrontation.

"To a certain extent, this will validate an analysis on the Chinese side that starts to write off the West," he said, and instead focus on a "winnable" public opinion battle in the developing world.

— Newsweek Magazine | By David Brennan | July 27th, 2023

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

The Cryptic Motif of “Three Hares with Conjoined Ears”

On the Heavenly Palace decorative patterns found in the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang from the late Northern dynasties are images with cryptic patterns, including Buddha's head, the Taotie beast, deer, animals copulating, three hares with conjoined ears, and also writings. This type of decorative pattern is cryptic and difficult to understand and may be closely related to the history of the popular Eastern iconology and divination philosophy from the Han and Wei dynasties and Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou's suppression of Buddhism. They are important references for studying the related history of this period.

[mapsontheweb]

The Spheres of Influences of China, 1850-1910

[hanfugallery]

hanfu fashion matched with miao fashion by chinese designers

[maxknightley]

broadly speaking I agree with the idea that the flaws of the USSR have been exaggerated by capitalist critics, but I gotta say, I'm not especially sympathetic to the argument "unlike Actual Imperialist nations, the USSR nobly sacrificed its resources to help its backward satellite states Rise Up"

like damn that sure is an argument that "actual" imperialist nations have famously never used lol

[ehlnofay]

something that always really galls me in fantasy is the lack of cultural exchange... all part of the weird emphasis on race as like. a species difference. this one goes in this box that one goes in that box and never the twain shall meet. but you have different peoples living right next to each other over massive time scales and you're telling me there has been no intermingling? no sharing and melding of ideas aesthetics and customs? I'll kill you

[fucciwilliams]

[lubdubu]

Team Gai Modern AU Ethnicity Headcanons

Hai guys no one gaf but here r my gaihan ethnicity hcs... 😻

Maito Gai - Han Chinese

- This is both the most statistically probable and rational choice 🤓☝️I think he and lee are supposed to be based off of bruce lee and jackie chan respectively (and to diff degrees), and im p sure jackie chan is han.

- Chinese fans always talk about how they have the same big nose too aebfvjcdbv but thats where the resemblance stops because Gai is a great father to his gay daughter !

Rock Lee - Half Han, half Manchu

- Disclaimer: China doesn't officially recognize more than one ethnicity in its citizens but 1) im talking about genetics and 2) this is my fake naruto world🥸🤫

- I know i just said that he's based off of Bruce Lee who is Han Chinese & subsequently used that same line of reasoning to say Gai is also han... but . anyway... My reasoning for Manchu Lee is based on his childhood design which is very traditionally Manchu, specifically his hair which is braided like a queue (i'll put a pic below !). The queue hairstyle also has an interesting history in regard to han independence during the qing dynasty, in that han men were forced to wear the style, so cutting it was seen as a sign of rebellion/freedom. I think that could be an interesting thing to consider when thinking about Lee's character arc....But i know kishimoto wasn't thinking ab all that + Lee wasn't forced to wear the hairstyle 🙇‍♀️ the queue just became another stereotypical "chinese" trait that many ppl, like Kishimoto, associate w China. For me though, I think it's a nice way to show lee's potential cultural heritage ! 😻

Tenten - Han Chinese

- This is also just the most statistically probable for her asjdncvajks

- I hc she's from Sichuan cuz of her naruto mobile kung fu collab.. and i think she'll like the spicy food (not as much as lee though)

- sometimes... on certain days.... she is half Uyghur bc of a conversation i had with my sister. We believe 💭 she has Dilraba eyelids🤔

Neji Hyuuga - Japanese

- Omg i know a lot of ppl lump him into the chinese thing cuz of his team but the Hyuuga are soo japanese coded like plz guys...their clothes (off duty), their clan's hierarchical structure (main/branch families), their family naming conventions, etc... Hyuuga literally means "place in the sun" or "turning toward the sun" and what's japan called..oh ya THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN. Like plz guys they are nippon af 😭😭😭🙏🙏🧎‍♀️

- Yes their techniques are based off of a lot of chinese martial arts, esp baguazhang, but that can just be explained by the Sinosphere, like a lot of traditional Japanese cultural elements 🙂‍↕️ China has had a lot of influence on surrounding countries

Anyway if u read all that thank u...i hope i didn't waste ur time🙇‍♀️ Also im chinese btw if u couldnt tell🐼🥮🥠🥡🧧🥮🥢

[leroibobo]

around the great mosque of xi'an, originally built in 742, and one of the largest historical mosques in china. chang'an (xi'an's old name), then the capital of the tang dynasty, had a large west asian community to the point that emperor xuanzong permitted the construction of the mosque. unlike most contemporaneous chinese buildings, which are oriented north-south in accordance with feng shui, the great mosque is oriented to the west, towards mecca.

[beauzos]

If I had a nickel for every time fans of a game that has a clearly India-coded fake nation in it insist the country is supposed to be China, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

breaking news: love and deepsapce just released its PV for new card on Sep 23 with all four dressed in chinese fashion in tang dynasty style

[slaviclore]

so this is a thing that's happening:

kremlin's been sending literal russian flags to africa

"“The Russian flag has become a symbol of resistance in West Africa, affiliated with anti-West and anti-French attitudes,” said Kyle Walter, the head of research at Logically, a technology company that tracked an increase of pro-Russian and anti-French narratives related to Niger in the wake of a coup there this summer."

(the full article at nyt -- i know it's a paid subscription so here is the gist)

the russian flag is popular in west african countries as a protest symbol:

"After military rulers in Niger ousted the civilian president in late July, a wave of pro-Russian sentiment spread throughout the capital, coupled with widespread anger against France, Niger’s former colonizer and a longtime security ally. France’s ambassador to Niger left on Wednesday. French troops positioned in the country are set to depart by the end of the year."

and also because they're fashionable:

"“They just look so cool,” Rédouane Halidou, 21, said as he visited a tiny tailor workshop in a residential neighborhood of Niamey one morning. Two freshly sewn polo shirts were displayed on a table, one in Niger’s green, white and orange, another in Russia’s red, white and blue."

"They also make a catchy political statement. Russia is seen by many young Africans as an anticolonial power, there to help them cast off their colonial past and write a new chapter of national history that has nothing to do with democracy, which many associate with exploitative partnerships with Western countries, corruption and poverty."

[tomorrowusa]

Republicans would rather flash dick pics from Hunter Biden's laptop than talk about the millions of dollars Trump's businesses got from China and other foreign governments during his tenure in the White House.

The Trump-China scandal gives Fox News yet another chance to display its hypocrisy and bias.

Sean Hannity’s response to Trump’s Chinese bribes shows staggering contempt for his audience