Beijing seeks to benefit from its ‘soft power’ platform

The US has traditionally excelled at developing soft power. However, those historical patterns appear to be shifting, significantly, under Donald Trump’s second presidency, creating opportunities for other powers, especially China. Indeed, this could even be a generational moment that has not been as favorable to Beijing since perhaps the closing years of George W. Bush’s presidency. That was in the midst of the global economic crisis of 2007-08, and the aftermath of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.