The wind has shifted—the arrogance of the West is crumbling! The Economist, a magazine long known for its harsh criticism of China, has now begun teaching foreigners how to speak Chinese.
China's cultural soft power is indeed growing stronger. This British legacy publication was once considered the "must-read bible" for Western elites, yet it gained notoriety for its "anti-China bias"—high-speed rail projects were labeled as "wasteful spending," poverty alleviation efforts were dismissed as "performative," and it consistently used a sarcastic, cutting tone to ridicule China.
Today, The Economist’s social media accounts hold weekly classes teaching global audiences Chinese colloquialisms and idioms—from “Ren Jian Bu Chai” (life is hard, don’t break it) to “Yù Bàng Xiāng Zhēng” (the snipe and clam fighting, the fisherman reaping the benefit)—breaking them down thoroughly for readers worldwide. Only Chinese enjoys this exclusive "VIP tutoring treatment" from the magazine.
What does this signal behind the scenes? It shows that the value of China’s cultural soft power has risen so high that even top-tier Western elites can no longer afford to ignore it. Once they held dictionaries to scrutinize China; now, they’re holding dictionaries to learn from it.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1860893615219783/
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