This week on Sinica, I welcome back Jeremy Goldkorn, co-founder of the show and my longtime co-host, to revisit the “vibe shift” we first discussed back in February. Seven months on, what we sensed then has fully borne out — there’s been a measurable softening in American attitudes toward China, reflected not just in polling data but in media coverage, podcast discussions, and public discourse. We dig into what’s driving this shift: the chaos of American politics making China look competent by comparison, the end of Wolf Warrior diplomacy, the gutting of China hawks in the Trump administration, Trump’s own transactional G2 enthusiasm, and the generational divide in how younger Americans encounter China through TikTok rather than legacy media. We also discuss the limits of this shift, the dangers of overcorrection, and what it feels like to watch the fever break after years of panic and absolutism in U.S.-China discourse.
Wow — what a great and timely podcast. All so true, but I think it misses one big reason for the vibe change. It was not just TikTok refugees going to RedNote and the China Hawkes being grounded, there was a turning point where the vibe changed!
From China, the vibe shift wasn’t driven by Washington think-tanks but by one man: IShowSpeed, arguably the world’s greatest diplomat live streaming from China in March 2025. His livestreams through 8 cities Shanghai, Beijing, Zhengzhou, Hong Kong,Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha and Shenzhen amongst other cities, reached tens of millions on YouTube and Shorts, showing China as open, funny, and human. No script, no police bubble — just crowds laughing, street food, drones dropping deliveries, and the now-legendary BYD “jumping car” clip.
His streams in China accumulated over 35.16 million views and overall logged more than 6.77 million hours of total live viewership. Absolutely VIRAL!
Another highlight was Speed’s encounter in Shenzhen with Li Jianhua (李建华) — known online as Trump Ge, the “Chinese Trump.” Already a Douyin celebrity, Li’s flawless parody became a mirror moment of cultural exchange: a Chinese performer embodying America’s political theatre for laughter, not hostility. The viral clip captured millions because it distilled the new tone — humour instead of fear, parody instead of propaganda.
The emotional crest came when Speed sang “Super Idol” with the original performer Arnan (阿然) at Jiaozi Park in Chengdu, the twin towers glowing behind them. I watched from my window as they gathered to join the chorus. That scene fused two digital cultures into one shared beat. The song itself had already become a viral bridge between China and the West — a melody born on Douyin, remixed by a Chinese student Zhang Zhenyuan (张震源), and then spread worldwide across TikTok. When millions of American youths mouthed those same words they couldn’t translate, a common emotional language emerged: optimism, warmth, and playfulness unfiltered by politics.
That duet did more for mutual understanding than years of summits. The confidence China showed in letting Speed stream freely became part of the message: no choreography, no censorship, just life. It turned China into the coolest place on earth for Gen Z. Add in visa-free travel, viral short videos, and record auto exports, and you see why the “China panic” faded — because people finally saw the country, live.
Yet the real shift did not happen because Americans suddenly learned to see China differently. It happened because Chinese creativity flooded the world. This was not diplomacy from above but soft power from below — an astroturfing of admiration through culture, commerce, and design. From Shein, Temu, and Nezha, to bubble tea, Labubu, and viral short dramas on Douyin, China’s 蚂蚁经济 (mayi jingji ), the “ant economy” of millions of small creators, projected a collective aesthetic that Western media could neither censor nor replicate.
The global narrative shifted because ordinary Chinese ingenuity became the message. The world now consumes Chinese infrastructure, electronics, music, and memes before it even realises they’re Chinese. This is how soft power works in the twenty-first century: not as propaganda but as convenience, creativity, and coolness.
Chinese short-form dramas — called 微短剧 (wēi duǎn jù) or simply 短剧 (duǎn jù) — have become a global export phenomenon. Shot vertically for smartphones, each episode typically lasts one to three minutes. In China, the market is projected to reach RMB 68.6 billion (≈ USD 9.6 billion) in 2025, while overseas revenues are expected to top USD 3 billion, with the U.S. alone accounting for USD 1.3 billion. (FT, Business Insider 2025)
ReelShort, backed by Chinese studio NewStyle Media, became the #1 entertainment app in the U.S. App Store in late 2024, surpassing Netflix in downloads for two weeks — a watershed moment showing how Chinese storytelling now drives Western viewing habits. The real power of these dramas lies in speed, shareability, and snackable emotion: fast arcs, vertical screens, and universal themes of love, luck, and redemption. This is Chinese soft power redefined — scrollable, emotional, and global.
From my vantage point inside China, the story looks reversed. I am not a “China hand”; I am an "America hand", watching Western societies decay through Chinese lenses. Life here is more convenient, far cheaper, and vastly more efficient — no property taxes, minimal medical costs, very low education fees, and city governments posting growth rates over 7 percent in places like Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Chongqing. The claim that China “lacks soft power” mentioned over and over in the Financial Times and other western press, rings hollow when the very texture of global youth culture — the emojis, aesthetics, gadgets, and daily habits — is now unmistakably Chinese in origin.
The vibe didn’t change because Americans forgave China; it changed because China created the vibe — and a song like Super Idol gave the world its chorus.
Wow — what a great and timely podcast. All so true, but I think it misses one big reason for the vibe change. It was not just TikTok refugees going to RedNote and the China Hawkes being grounded, there was a turning point where the vibe changed!
From China, the vibe shift wasn’t driven by Washington think-tanks but by one man: IShowSpeed, arguably the world’s greatest diplomat live streaming from China in March 2025. His livestreams through 8 cities Shanghai, Beijing, Zhengzhou, Hong Kong,Chongqing, Chengdu, Changsha and Shenzhen amongst other cities, reached tens of millions on YouTube and Shorts, showing China as open, funny, and human. No script, no police bubble — just crowds laughing, street food, drones dropping deliveries, and the now-legendary BYD “jumping car” clip.
His streams in China accumulated over 35.16 million views and overall logged more than 6.77 million hours of total live viewership. Absolutely VIRAL!
Another highlight was Speed’s encounter in Shenzhen with Li Jianhua (李建华) — known online as Trump Ge, the “Chinese Trump.” Already a Douyin celebrity, Li’s flawless parody became a mirror moment of cultural exchange: a Chinese performer embodying America’s political theatre for laughter, not hostility. The viral clip captured millions because it distilled the new tone — humour instead of fear, parody instead of propaganda.
The emotional crest came when Speed sang “Super Idol” with the original performer Arnan (阿然) at Jiaozi Park in Chengdu, the twin towers glowing behind them. I watched from my window as they gathered to join the chorus. That scene fused two digital cultures into one shared beat. The song itself had already become a viral bridge between China and the West — a melody born on Douyin, remixed by a Chinese student Zhang Zhenyuan (张震源), and then spread worldwide across TikTok. When millions of American youths mouthed those same words they couldn’t translate, a common emotional language emerged: optimism, warmth, and playfulness unfiltered by politics.
That duet did more for mutual understanding than years of summits. The confidence China showed in letting Speed stream freely became part of the message: no choreography, no censorship, just life. It turned China into the coolest place on earth for Gen Z. Add in visa-free travel, viral short videos, and record auto exports, and you see why the “China panic” faded — because people finally saw the country, live.
Yet the real shift did not happen because Americans suddenly learned to see China differently. It happened because Chinese creativity flooded the world. This was not diplomacy from above but soft power from below — an astroturfing of admiration through culture, commerce, and design. From Shein, Temu, and Nezha, to bubble tea, Labubu, and viral short dramas on Douyin, China’s 蚂蚁经济 (mayi jingji ), the “ant economy” of millions of small creators, projected a collective aesthetic that Western media could neither censor nor replicate.
The global narrative shifted because ordinary Chinese ingenuity became the message. The world now consumes Chinese infrastructure, electronics, music, and memes before it even realises they’re Chinese. This is how soft power works in the twenty-first century: not as propaganda but as convenience, creativity, and coolness.
Chinese short-form dramas — called 微短剧 (wēi duǎn jù) or simply 短剧 (duǎn jù) — have become a global export phenomenon. Shot vertically for smartphones, each episode typically lasts one to three minutes. In China, the market is projected to reach RMB 68.6 billion (≈ USD 9.6 billion) in 2025, while overseas revenues are expected to top USD 3 billion, with the U.S. alone accounting for USD 1.3 billion. (FT, Business Insider 2025)
ReelShort, backed by Chinese studio NewStyle Media, became the #1 entertainment app in the U.S. App Store in late 2024, surpassing Netflix in downloads for two weeks — a watershed moment showing how Chinese storytelling now drives Western viewing habits. The real power of these dramas lies in speed, shareability, and snackable emotion: fast arcs, vertical screens, and universal themes of love, luck, and redemption. This is Chinese soft power redefined — scrollable, emotional, and global.
From my vantage point inside China, the story looks reversed. I am not a “China hand”; I am an "America hand", watching Western societies decay through Chinese lenses. Life here is more convenient, far cheaper, and vastly more efficient — no property taxes, minimal medical costs, very low education fees, and city governments posting growth rates over 7 percent in places like Chengdu, Hangzhou, and Chongqing. The claim that China “lacks soft power” mentioned over and over in the Financial Times and other western press, rings hollow when the very texture of global youth culture — the emojis, aesthetics, gadgets, and daily habits — is now unmistakably Chinese in origin.
The vibe didn’t change because Americans forgave China; it changed because China created the vibe — and a song like Super Idol gave the world its chorus.
The Super Idol Clip
https://youtube.com/shorts/fZWufgrkCcw?si=TbtxYS7Fe3MXJXMF
Ishowspeed China Tour 2025
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7yUo_QnzVZ2Kb0VzSo5NATSdjX8vvlOa&si=z3PaFiuYbpv9Wg-P
So glad that you two are doing this. Cued, and queued up!