A survey conducted by a research center in the United States, involving over 42,000 people from 36 countries, revealed that in 25 of those 36 countries, the percentage of those expressing positive views of China was higher than those expressing positive views of the United States. Furthermore, the survey found that in many countries, trust in Chinese President Xi Jinping was higher than in US President Donald Trump, marking the first time that positive views of China have surpassed those of the US in such a large number of countries.[i] According to the Democracy Index, prepared by the Alliance of Democracies, led by former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, based on interviews with 110,000 people in 100 countries, sympathy for China surpassed that for the US in 2025, and the percentage of countries sympathetic to the US decreased from 76% to 45%.[ii]
The significant increase in positive views of China compared to the US in recent years is undoubtedly due to the numerous attempts by the US to undermine the international law-based system, as well as China’s various cultural diplomacy tools. China’s Belt and Road Initiative, with its core principles of promoting cultural harmony and mutual respect rather than fostering cultural conflict, aims to strengthen cultural relations by increasing mutual understanding and promoting cultural exchange between different countries and communities in areas such as language, art, music, history, tourism, education, and cultural heritage.[iii] By internationalizing traditional events such as the Mid-Autumn Festival,[iv] promoting Chinese cultural aesthetics and new non-Western identity forms through TikTok[v] and instilling Chinese history and culture in young people through computer games in order to promote the discourse of “peaceful development”,[vi] China employs some of its cultural diplomacy tools.
However, it remains debatable whether China’s cultural diplomacy efforts can shake the cultural hegemony that the US has established in the world since World War II, particularly through the film and television industries. While China attempts to reach the international community through television channels and its developing film and television industry, it has yet to achieve the desired breakthrough against the US. The crucial question here is whether China wants to establish a US-style cultural hegemony.
Hollywood Cinema and its Role in the Cultural Hegemony of the United States
In the early 20th century, cinema emerged as a revolutionary visual art form that captivated audiences worldwide. Initially, cinema was primarily considered a form of entertainment, particularly for its unprecedented visual impact on viewers. However, with the outbreak of global conflicts such as the World Wars, the role of cinema changed significantly, becoming a powerful tool for conveying social messages and influencing political dynamics. During the World War era and the subsequent Cold War, cinema was used as a tool of soft power, transforming it from simply entertaining audiences into a means of conveying social messages and shaping foreign policy.
Particularly after World War II, with the destruction of film studios and the deep economic difficulties faced by French and German cinema, the American film industry bypassed these industries. Furthermore, due to the propaganda war waged against the Soviet Union (USSR), American cinema played a significant role in reflecting the country’s idealized image, thus strengthening the US’s cultural and public diplomacy on a global level. This American cultural hegemony, embodied in the Hollywood industry, gained further strength from television series after the 1960s, which not only imposed American culture on the world but also instilled the US’s enemy perceptions (“the evil USSR and Iran,” for example) into a Western-centric world.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union viewed cinema and popular culture not as a commercial form of entertainment, but as a pedagogical tool for educating, enlightening, and building socialist individuals. It responded to Hollywood’s commercial narratives with productions of high artistic depth. Ultimately, while the Soviet Union achieved great success in high art, chess, and space narratives, it could not keep pace with the consumerist aesthetics and rapid spread of American popular culture and television series. Furthermore, this culture played a critical role in the internal erosion of the Eastern Bloc and the USSR.
In the post-Cold War era, and especially after 9/11, the influence of the US on film and popular culture production continued, and these negative perceptions were even reproduced in popular films by creating new enemies (evil Islamist terrorists, despotic leaders, etc.). The recent portrayal of China and Chinese characters in US-produced films and television series as “Eastern,” “despotic,” and “primitive societies” also demonstrates the continuation of Hollywood cinema’s traditional approach.[vii] So, what strategy is China pursuing in this area in response to the classic codes of cultural hegemony that the US has established in the film and television industry?
Establishing Cultural Hegemony or Adopting a Cultural Defensive Strategy?
While it is debatable whether China has directly established a one-sided “cultural hegemony” on a global scale through its films and TV series, it is clear that the Beijing administration and Chinese media giants have been engaged in a conscious, multi-layered, and strategic soft power initiative in recent years.
In this context, while the classic cultural hegemony established by the US through Hollywood prioritizes the image of the US as the protector of Western democratic and liberal values and the consumption of this image in the global market, China’s approach appears to be based more on state-driven image management. At this point, the aim is not so much to dismantle Western hegemony, but rather to soften criticisms directed at China’s style of governance, to break down the Western-centric orientalist perception, and to present China’s global rise as “peaceful and civilized.”
In recent years, Chinese cinema has been subtly countering the individualistic and liberal discourses of the West by emphasizing historical continuity and a strong state structure. Big-budget productions like The Wandering Earth (science fiction), Wolf Warrior (military action), and The Battle of Changjin Lake showcase China’s technical capabilities while presenting the figure of the “Chinese hero” saving the world or protecting its borders in times of crisis to a global audience. There has also been a recent surge in C-Dramas, following the success of Korean K-Dramas. Productions like Story of Yanxi Palace or The Untamed have reached large audiences in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, highlighting China’s deep history and aesthetics and creating cultural appeal. Furthermore, Chinese digital platforms like iQIYI and WeTV are expanding in the Southeast Asian market, directly competing with Netflix. However, China faces significant structural obstacles to establishing a full-fledged cultural hegemony through popular culture.
The first of these obstacles is the tight state control over the industry and the adaptation of global messages to party ideology, sometimes seen in Soviet cinema as well, creating a perception of “propaganda” among global audiences. Another obstacle is the impact of cultural promotion/defense, where references to Chinese history and Confucian values in films and television series (even if effective at a regional level) are sometimes difficult for Western or African audiences to understand. Finally, China’s primary goal in cultural diplomacy is not to establish a monolithic “cultural hegemony” in the American style that completely transforms the world, but rather to legitimize its own national security and strategic narratives in the global cultural market, which also fuels these obstacles. Therefore, China neither wants to establish a US-style cultural hegemony in the world, nor could it, even if it wanted to, due to the before-mentioned obstacles.
[i] “Dünya genelinde Çin’e dair olumlu görüşler ABD’yi geçti”, TRT Haber, https://www.trthaber.com/haber/dunya/dunya-genelinde-cine-dair-olumlu-gorusler-abdyi-gecti-951356.html, (Date Accessed: 23.07.2026).
[ii] “Global perceptions of US fall below China, survey says”, Reuters, https://www.reuters.com/world/global-perceptions-us-fall-below-china-survey-says-2025-05-12/, (Date Accessed: 23.07.2026).
[iii] Ayşe Süreyya Pekçetin, “Kuşak ve Yol Girişimi’nin Medeniyetler Arası Uyumu”, ANKASAM, https://www.ankasam.org/anka-analizler/kusak-ve-yol-girisiminin-medeniyetler-arasi-uyumu/, (Date Accessed: 23.07.2026).
[iv] Berra Kızılyazı, “Çin’de ‘Güz Ortası Festivali’ ve Kültür Ekonomisi”, ANKASAM, https://www.ankasam.org/anka-analizler/cinde-guz-ortasi-festivali-ve-kultur-ekonomisi/, (Date Accessed: 23.07.2026).
[v] Ayşe Azra Kılavcı, “Kültürel Üretimde Çin’in Yükselen Gücü”, ANKASAM, https://www.ankasam.org/anka-analizler/kulturel-uretimde-cinin-yukselen-gucu/, (Date Accessed: 23.07.2026).
[vi] Zeynep Çağla Erin, “Çin’in Kültürel Diplomasisinde Yeni Bir Dönem: 2026’da Oyun Sektörünün Geleceği”, ANKASAM, https://www.ankasam.org/anka-analizler/cinin-kulturel-diplomasisinde-yeni-bir-donem-2026da-oyun-sektorunun-gelecegi/, (Date Accessed: 23.07.2026).
[vii] Yiğit, Z. (2013). Hollywood Sineması’nın Yeni Oryantalist Söylemi ve 300 Spartalı. Selçuk İletişim, 5(3), 236-249. https://doi.org/10.18094/si.81247.
