Hoxhaism

• She is at once a symbol of female empowerment, ridicule and consumerism.
• People might suspect that the recent ban of the Barbie movie by the Vietnamese government is motivated by these concerns.
• Amid the frothy Barbie plot, the attentive viewer might notice a map depicting a broad area claimed by China in international waters that buffer the Philippines, Malaysia/Indonesia, Vietnam and China.

Appropriating culture

• China has claimed traditional Korean songs (arirang), dress (hanbok) and the quintessential culinary staple, kimchi.
• But on a psychological level, culture and physical territory are central to group identities.
• Vietnam’s concerns about a momentary glimpse of a map in a movie must be viewed in these terms.

Cultures evolve

• The Vietnamese, for example, developed their own folk medicine, often appropriated by the Chinese as “southern medicine (Thuốc Nam).” By making claims on other cultures in the region, China is attempting to legitimize its influence as it seeks global superpower status.
• Understandably, when China makes claims on regional cultural traditions — and territory — its neighbours fear for their autonomy.

Eyeing territory

• The party has dedicated considerable effort to building up a powerful navy and constructing artificial islands atop coral reefs to place military bases.
• During this time, parts of Korea, China, Taiwan, Vietnam and other countries were subjected to brutal colonial rule.

Persuasion through media, messages

• A key strategy in persuasion is to flood information ecosystems with desired messages.
• When presented in ubiquitous media, such as memes or postage stamps, an audience can begin to lose track of the credibility of the source.
• Beyond film, history textbooks and classrooms are the latest battleground for wars that continue to live in collective memory.

The power of pink persuasion

• Its brief moment in the spotlight will likely amuse audiences, but it also adds another small brick to the wall being built by China to expand its influence.
• Regulations aimed at preventing Chinese influence won’t be sufficient as they might replicate the kind of censorship seen in China.

• With the theme "Implement the Global Civilization Initiative and jointly promote modernization," the opening ceremony of the conference was held at the new China National Archives of Publications and Culture in Beijing.
• In March 2022, worldwide sinologists gathered to hold the first General Assembly of the World Council of Sinologists.
• Other sinologists, including Mexican professor Liljana Arsovska and Egyptian professor Abdel Aziz Hamdi, also gave keynote speeches at the opening ceremony.
• "The aim of gathering sinologists from around the world is to break the isolation created due to language barriers," Xu added.

• A Concise history of the Communist Party of China was published in English on July 1, 2021.
• Published by the Central Compilation and Translation Press (CCTP), the multilingual editions of the book are gifts for the 102nd anniversary of the founding of the CPC, Xi Weidong, President and Chief Editor of CCTP, said at the ceremony.
• Li Xiaoyan, a director from CCTP who was responsible for the whole project, told the Global Times on Saturday that about 20 foreign experts participated in the translation and editing of the books.
• It took nearly one year to complete all translation work, and about half a year in finishing the editing work.

• Over in China, too, there may have been some concerned faces.
• A coup in Russia would upend this careful diplomatic dance and provide Beijing with a fresh headache.

Do we have any clues about how Beijing perceived events?

• It will be hard to guess what Beijing really thinks, especially as there has been little in the way of official comment.
• As such, China will be careful about what is being printed so that Chinese officials don’t get an earful from Russian diplomats.
• Such commentary may be a subtle way for Beijing to suggest to Moscow it needs to get its house in order.

So will the Wagner episode affect China’s support for Putin?

• Some Chinese commentators have noted that Putin did emerge victorious quickly, and with little blood spilled.
• They may be right – although the insurrection is widely viewed as an embarrassment, many observers in the West also believe that Putin will survive the crisis.
• For example, during the 1991 attempted coup by Soviet hardliners against then-President Mikhail Gorbachev, some of the leadership in Beijing contemplated providing economic support.

What lessons might the Chinese have drawn for their own system?

• It’s hard to overstate how what happens in Russia has historically shaped thinking in China about their own country.
• The Chinese will likely take pride in their own system, where such a mutiny is hard to imagine, but will nonetheless be careful not to crow about it.