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I won't defend China any more than I will the United States. Both are blameworthy for a lot of transgressions throughout history. Both vying for world dominance, only the US is a declining power in relative terms. So is the rest of the West. But the rise of China does not mean it'll supplant US power, what's left of it. So "soft power" is developed, strategically, and used, strategically, to supplement "hard power". That Chinese yanqing "culture" -- whatever the heck culture is supposed to mean -- to parlay Beijing's "hard power" projection and trajectory, to be sure, is no different to Washington using its "soft power" "cultural forms" to do the same -- music, Hollywood, television, sport, et cetera. What I like about this article, in particular, are its nuances of How Beijing is peddling forms of power beyond its militarism that is being projection far beyond its borders. This helps someone like me to better understand the whole panoply of Chinese foreign policy and "international relations" in the way two of my professors, Michael Yahuda and the late Bill Brugger, had always urged me to pursue. I'm grateful for the article, to your correspondent, and to Asia Sentinel.

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Well, romance novels are a staple in the US. But these from have some anti-freedom (let's call it that as it issue from the world's greatest slave state) voices. Is their silliness remembered in real way? Maybe not.

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