I mean, China has lots of 'cool' things, but it is actively suppressed by the media landscape in the west. It should also be noted that China lacks soft power only in western countries. According to the Bennett Institute, China is more popular in the global south than the US.

does china really NEED media exports to appease westerners though? of course on the western internet china will seem "uncool" or be the punchline in jokes, because the western internet is full of racist, anti-communist liberals or neo-nazis. china is powerful enough on the overall world stage, and especially the global south, to not need to have "soft power" propped up by capitalist media that westerners eat up like kpop or anime (that is also rife with exploitation in their respective industries as well). to me this just kinda seems like "why doesn't china make itself look nicer for the western internet users????".

Previously this may have been true, mostly because South Korea and Japan have been embraced by the US as vassal states. Obviously China will not have the same level of cultural exchange with the US.

For example, do we complain about a lack of Cuban, Vietnamese, or Laotian soft power in the West? No, because those countries are also marked as enemies by the US.

Today, Chinese cultural exports are starting to be able to stand on their own in the global market without extra help from Western governments. For instance, Genshin Impact, made by miHOYO from China, earned the highest ever first-year launch revenue of any video game.

Her analysis is insanely narrow, and fails to take into account any of these historical issues. Her conclusion boils down to: "China should make the West happy so they buy more C-pop."