Reshaping Western Youth's "China View" Through Lively Engagement

In recent years, with the continuous adjustment and optimization of our country's visa-free transit policies, the convenience for foreigners entering and staying in China has been continuously improving. An increasing number of foreigners are coming to China for tourism. In 2024, the number of visa-exempt entries reached 20.115 million, an increase of 112.3% year-on-year. Civil exchanges between China and the West have become increasingly frequent. From March to April 2025, American top online celebrity "Hyperthyroidism Brother" (IShowSpeed) came to China for live streaming. Through the immersive live streaming method of "one-shot-through", he presented the modern development of Chinese society to global users, allowing countless foreigners to see a real, three-dimensional, and comprehensive China. The misunderstandings about China formed by Western youth under the influence of Western mainstream media bias are gradually being corrected under the promotion of Sino-Western civil exchanges. More constructive Sino-Western civil exchanges are becoming an important way to break through the Western lens and promote mutual understanding.

Sino-Western civil exchanges break the "information cocoon" of Western youth's perception of China. Due to differences in cultural origins, geopolitical strategic positions, and civilizational traditions and institutional backgrounds, Sino-Western countries are destined to have natural gaps in ideology. This gap is further amplified against the backdrop of China's rise challenging the West's existing dominant position. At the same time, internal social rifts in the United States have intensified, and racial, class, and ethnic conflicts have become increasingly acute. The intertwining of external pressure and internal anxiety has led to a more intense defensive and hostile tendency in Western perceptions of China. As a form of ideological concept, news propaganda has a subtle "conjoined heteromorphism" relationship with ideology. Driven by economic interests and political objectives, Western mainstream media has gradually developed a path dependency for smearing China in their reports. Relying on their preemptive advantage in the international public opinion arena, they continue to fabricate and amplify false narratives such as the "China Threat Theory" and the "China Collapse Theory," further solidifying negative perceptions of China among Western audiences.

With the smooth and widened channels of Sino-Western civil exchanges, especially the widespread application of social media, Western youth can more directly and swiftly contact the real China. This de-mediation personal experience provides a new channel for the rapid spread of information and fundamentally undermines the monopoly position of Western mainstream media over discourse on China. Western youth independently compare and analyze facts and propaganda based on their own observations, causing many of the mainstream media's lies about China to collapse without resistance. As the narrative of the mainstream media is repeatedly exposed and the cracks between reality and reporting widen, the "information cocoon" begins to crack. More and more people realize that a single voice cannot encompass complex realities, and manipulated information cannot mask true existence.

Sino-Western civil exchanges help to "de-label" China's image. In the past, due to language barriers and narrow communication channels, Western youth were more likely to passively accept labels of China fed by mainstream media. These labels often appear in simplified forms, replacing complex and accurate understanding with one-sided stereotypes to reduce cognitive costs. Recognizing things through labels is a choice made out of efficiency instinct in an information-overloaded environment. Leveraging its powerful information supply capability, Western media actively sets topics, manipulates discourse frameworks, and autonomously creates numerous false labels about China. With the rapid development of social media, every active "blogger" or "podcaster" may become a "mainstream" information transmitter, becoming another key node in information dissemination outside traditional mainstream media. The widespread popularity and use of platforms like Xiaohongshu, Douyin (TikTok), podcasts, Zoom, and numerous efficient instant translation software applications have accelerated the decentralization and monopolization of information flow processes. In specific and vivid interactions, real details tear away old distorted labels and reshape Western youth's understanding and perception of China.

Facing the negative labels long hyped by Western media, such as the "China Threat Theory" and the "China Collapse Theory," our traditional response strategy has been to rigorously refute them through content self-certification, attempting to refute prejudices through logic and facts. However, in fact, in the mass communication environment, emotions precede rationality, and impressions precede logic. Instead of being busy correcting biases, it would be better to take the opposite approach. Actively create new, positive cognitive labels for ourselves, using labels to counteract labels and frameworks to reshape frameworks, achieving proactive advancement in the cognitive battlefield. For example, the "Century Grand Reconciliation" conducted by young people from China and abroad on Xiaohongshu, where both sides discuss wages, rent, medical expenses, etc., breaks through each other's stereotypes and reshapes their understanding of each other. This exchange method is a vivid embodiment of how civil exchanges play a positive role in de-labeling.

Empowered by technologies such as artificial intelligence, film and television games, the metaverse, and cross-border e-commerce platforms have become efficient carriers for cultural resonance and interest integration between Chinese and Western youth. For instance, through cross-border e-commerce platforms, Western youth can conveniently purchase Chinese goods. This not only promotes economic exchanges but also enhances understanding of Chinese products and brands. The widespread popularity and use of diverse communication carriers significantly lower the threshold for Western youth to access and understand China, making their "China view" no longer constrained by Western mainstream media filled with arrogance and prejudice or so-called "authoritative figures."

The environment and conditions for removing the Western lens in civil exchanges are now fully in place. As long as Sino-Western civil exchanges continue to maintain a two-way interactive momentum and focus on areas such as economy, livelihood, environmental protection, culture, and technology that are easy to promote mutual understanding and shape mutual empathy and mutual recognition, a Western youth objective and rational consensus towards China will gradually form. Many individuals introduce the real vitality and cultural landscape of Chinese society they feel to Western youth through live streaming or personal experiences. This exchange method not only becomes an important part of Sino-Western exchanges but also lays a solid civilian foundation for more extensive cooperation between both parties.

Author:

Professor Li Haidong, Institute of International Relations, Diplomatic Academy

Researcher Zhang Qing, Regional and National Communication Research Institute, Communication University of China

Source: Global Times

Author: Li Haidong

Process Editor: U072

Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7498176873101427200/

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