TikTok, Labubus, and the making of China’s global image

Behind displays of its military muscle, Xi Jinping’s China is waging an equally strategic campaign to dominate through something far less tangible - and also far more innocuous - soft power. From the viral success of the Labubu blind box dolls to the global reach of video-sharing app TikTok, Chinese-originated cultural exports are reshaping global tastes and narratives, bolstering Beijing’s status as the world’s No. 2 soft power nation, second only to the US. The two work hand in hand, according to Dylan Loh, an associate professor at NTU in Singapore who specialises in Chinese foreign policy. “China's attempt to cultivate or build an image of a peace-loving, open country sometimes rubs up against the fact that it pursues more assertive actions on the ground,” Loh told Global South World.

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