川普自毀前程之際，中國正努力建構軟實力。
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在我撰寫本文時，世界斯諾克錦標賽正在謝菲爾德進入高潮——22歲的吳逸澤正與英國選手肖恩·墨菲爭奪冠軍。如果吳逸澤獲勝，他將成為繼去年趙心桐之後，第二位加冕世界冠軍的中國選手。
命運弄人，中國和英國如今已成為世界斯諾克運動的兩大中心。謝菲爾德，這座曾經的世界鋼鐵之都，如今已成為斯諾克之都。吳先生16歲時隨父親搬到謝菲爾德，住在沒有窗戶的公寓裡，潛心磨練球技。據說，中國現在約有1.5億斯諾克球迷。英國駐北京大使彼得·威爾遜為了紀念這段奇妙的緣分，特意在自家客廳裡擺放了一張斯諾克球桌。
中國崛起成為斯諾克超級大國，這雖是一個小小的跡象，卻表明中國正在開始發展「軟實力」——這種文化影響力可以提升一個國家的全球形象。
多年來，現代軟實力形式一直與中國無緣。日本有漫畫，韓國有K-pop。這些現象並非政府指令，而是源自於社會內部──這或許也是中國在共產黨嚴苛的統治下難以與之競爭的原因之一。但情況正在改變。這不僅體現在斯諾克上。 TikTok是一款風靡全球的中國應用程序，它催生了許多具有國際影響力的文化梗。重慶這座城市如今也因其「賽博龐克」式的建築而備受矚目，鐵路穿城而過。 「我生命中一段非常中國式的時光」這 句話 在TikTok和Instagram上迅速走紅，它可以指代很多事情，從在室內穿拖鞋到喝熱水，無所不包。
軟實力與地緣政治之間的關係難以界定，但二者確實存在。美國和西方在冷戰中取得勝利，部分原因在於美國社會看起來比其蘇聯對手更具吸引力和活力。鐵幕背後的人們對李維斯牛仔褲和搖滾樂的渴望是真實存在的，而且影響深遠。因此，中國正在發展軟實力，同時，唐納德·川普卻在消耗美國在全球累積的良好聲譽，這或許具有重要的意義。
上個月發布的一項 針對東南亞精英階層的民意 調查詢問受訪者，如果被迫在美國和中國之間做出選擇，東南亞國家應該與誰結盟。這項調查進行八年來，首次出現略微過半數的受訪者選擇中國的情況。今年稍早的一項民調 顯示，德國、法國、英國和加拿大的大多數受訪者認為「依靠中國比依靠美國更好」——對於美國的傳統盟友而言，這是一個令人矚目的結果。
中美之間的競爭日益演變為哪個國家將對世界經濟和科技未來產生更大的影響。第三國會採用中國還是美國的科技標準？中國電動車會主導全球汽車市場嗎？
一個國家的全球形象會對這些選擇產生重大影響。特斯拉在歐洲的銷量在2025年大幅下滑，許多人將其歸咎於該公司創始人馬斯克與川普的密切關係。我位於倫敦西部的特斯拉經銷店最近關閉了，現在變成了快速發展的中國汽車品牌歐摩達和捷酷的展廳。
美國決策者經常堅稱，採用中國技術可能會使人們面臨中國間諜活動的風險。幾年前，美國曾竭盡全力說服其全球盟友不要採用中國供應商華為的5G無線網路。這場運動相當成功。例如，英國最終改變了選擇華為的決定。但如今，美國類似的遊說活動是否還能奏效，則令人質疑。
美國反對華為的主要論點是，採用華為技術會使各國面臨監控和經濟脅迫的風險。但如今，經濟脅迫已成為美國外交政策的主要手段，歐盟官員甚至被 要求 攜帶一次性手機前往美國。
與此同時，北京正在提升其軟實力。許多歐洲人現在可以免簽證前往中國。中國的DeepSeek公司已將其人工智慧模型開源，這促使該模型在全球迅速普及。上週，中國取消了幾乎所有非洲國家進口商品的關稅。這與華盛頓宣布計劃對歐盟車輛徵收25%的關稅形成了鮮明對比。
美國長期以來一直將印度視為遏制中國影響力的關鍵夥伴。但川普似乎故意疏遠莫迪政府——對印度加徵高額關稅，讚揚巴基斯坦，最近還在社群媒體上轉發了將印度描述為「人間地獄」的評論。今年3月，莫迪政府宣布，將加速審批七個戰略領域中資少數股權的科技投資項目。
諷刺的是，美國對經濟依賴中國的風險所發出的警告並非毫無道理。北京已經表明，它有能力也有意願利用其在稀土和關鍵礦產生產領域的主導地位作為地緣政治武器。為了因應中國在全球日益增長的經濟實力，美國需要建立國際夥伴關係。而這需要重建美國的軟實力儲備。否則，川普可能會發現自己被習近平徹底耍得團團轉。
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China is building soft power as Trump burns bridges
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As I write, the World Snooker Championship is coming to a climax in Sheffield — with 22-year-old Wu Yize battling Britain’s Shaun Murphy for supremacy. If Wu wins he will be the second Chinese player to be crowned world champion, following the victory of Zhao Xintong last year.
In a surprising twist of fate, China and Britain have emerged as the two centres of world snooker excellence. Sheffield, once the steelmaking capital of the world, has become the snooker capital. Wu moved there aged 16 with his father and lived in a windowless flat, as he honed his game. There are now said to be some 150mn snooker fans in China. Peter Wilson, the UK ambassador in Beijing, has installed a snooker table in his living room as a tribute to this unlikely bond.
China’s emergence as a snooker superpower is a small sign that the country is beginning to develop “soft power” — the cultural cachet that can burnish a country’s global image.
For many years, modern forms of soft power have eluded China. Japan had manga. South Korea had K-pop. These phenomena emerged from within society rather than by government decree — which may be one reason why China, under the suffocating rule of the Communist Party, struggled to compete. But things are changing. It is not just the snooker. TikTok is a wildly successful Chinese app that has helped to create cultural memes with international resonance. The city of Chongqing is now gaining global attention because of its “cyberpunk” architecture, with railways passing through buildings. The phrase “a very Chinese time in my life” has gone viral on TikTok and Instagram. It can mean anything from wearing slippers indoors to drinking hot water.
The relationship between soft power and geopolitics is hard to pin down — but it definitely exists. The US and the west triumphed in the cold war, partly because American society seemed so much more attractive and dynamic than its Soviet rival. The yearning for Levi’s jeans and rock music behind the Iron Curtain was real and it mattered. So, it is potentially significant that China is developing soft power, just as Donald Trump is burning through America’s stock of global goodwill.
A survey of elite opinion in south-east Asia, released last month, asked respondents who south-east Asian nations should align with, if forced to choose between America and China. For the first time in the eight-year history of the survey, a slim majority opted for China. A poll taken earlier this year showed significant majorities in Germany, France, Britain and Canada saying that it is “better to depend on China than the US” — a remarkable result for traditional American allies.
The rivalry between the US and China is increasingly about which nation will do most to shape the world’s economic and technological future. Will third countries adopt Chinese or American tech standards? Will Chinese EVs come to dominate the global auto market?
A country’s global image can powerfully influence those choices. The sales of Teslas plunged in Europe in 2025, which many have attributed to the close association of the company’s founder, Elon Musk, with Donald Trump. My local Tesla dealership in west London shut down recently and is now a showroom for the fast-growing Chinese car brands, Omoda and Jaecoo.
American policymakers often insist that adopting Chinese tech can expose people to Chinese espionage. A few years ago, the US went all out to persuade its global allies not to adopt 5G wireless from Huawei, a Chinese provider. This campaign was fairly successful. Britain, for example, reversed its decision to go with Huawei. But it is questionable whether similar American campaigns would now succeed.
The main argument that the US made against Huawei was that adopting their technology would open countries to surveillance and to economic coercion. But we now live in a world in which economic coercion is a mainstay of American statecraft and EU officials are told to take burner phones to the US.
Beijing, meanwhile, is buffing up its soft power. Many Europeans can now travel there without visas. China’s DeepSeek has made its AI model open source, which has led to its rapid adoption around the world. And last week, China dropped tariffs on imports from almost all African countries. That made for a striking contrast with Washington’s announcement that it intends to impose 25 per cent tariffs on EU vehicles.
The US has long regarded India as a crucial partner in the battle to contain Chinese influence. But Trump seems to be going out of his way to alienate the Modi government — imposing heavy tariffs on India, praising Pakistan and recently sharing social media comments that described India as a “hellhole”. In March, the Modi government announced that it will now allow fast-track approval for tech investments with minority Chinese ownership in seven strategic sectors.
The irony is that US warnings about the dangers of economic dependence on China have some merit. Beijing has shown itself willing and able to use its dominance of rare earths and critical mineral production as a geopolitical weapon. To combat China’s growing economic power around the world, the US will need to create international partnerships. That will require rebuilding America’s stock of soft power. Otherwise Trump may find himself well and truly snookered by Xi.
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