Reframing China: TikTok, Soft Power, and the Battle for Global Narratives

This book explores China’s growing use of digital platforms as instruments of soft power, with a particular focus on the strategic deployment of TikTok in shaping global narratives. This book explores China’s growing use of digital platforms as instruments of soft power, with a particular focus on the strategic deployment of TikTok in shaping global narratives. At the intersection of international relations, media studies, and Chinese foreign policy, the project offers a timely and empirically grounded investigation into how the People’s Republic of China is leveraging platform infrastructure and algorithmic design to influence foreign audiences, especially those in the West. What makes this project distinctive is its dual focus on theoretical innovation and empirical depth. It advances existing scholarship by reconceptualizing digital platforms not merely as neutral technologies, but as strategic tools of statecraft capable of advancing soft power objectives. Drawing on original cross-platform comparison, it combines content analysis with AI-assisted sentiment analysis to reveal where, how, and why China-related narratives gain traction, particularly among Western audiences.