In an opinion page piece titled "The Myth of Chinese Soft Power" by former DPP legislator Lin Cho-shui draws to a close with the following comments on a Pew Research Center poll of 24,000 participants in 22 countries: "The center found that there has been a large increase in the number of people who hold a negative view of China in the United States, Japan, South Korea and Western European countries. The survey also found that those who hold a positive view of China are people from African and Latin American nations, with people from Pakistan, Kenya and Nigeria having the most positive opinions about China.
"This survey was something of a surprise. First, it showed that the three nations with the most positive view of China have horrendous human rights records and that they are of the same ilk as China’s two East Asian allies, North Korea and Myanmar. "These nations, including China, all rely on authoritarian and despotic “hard power” to maintain their regimes. The more China is supported by such countries, the more it worries that other nations will find it harder to see the attraction of China’s soft power.
"Second, it has recently become popular for China’s wealthy middle class and government officials to emigrate and have their children in the US, which for the moment gains them immediate US citizenship. This is a clear indication that many Chinese themselves fear Beijing’s hard power more than they admire its soft power.
"In the end, there is absolutely no chance that the nations of the world will roll over and accept this celestial order."
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