Yet, behind these displays of its military muscle, Xi Jinping’s China is waging an equally strategic campaign to dominate through something far less tangible —and also far more innocuous —soft power.

From the viral success of the Labubu blind box dolls to the global reach of video-sharing app TikTok, Chinese-originated cultural exports are reshaping global tastes and narratives, bolstering Beijing’s status as the world’s No. 2 soft power nation, second only to the US.

And while these seemingly harmless tools of power contrast sharply with China’s tormentor image in Asia, in reality, the two work hand in hand, according to Dylan Loh, an associate professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore who specialises in Chinese foreign policy.

“China's attempt to cultivate or build an image of a peace-loving, open country sometimes rubs up against the fact that it pursues more assertive actions on the ground,” Loh told Global South World.

“But I stress again that the fact that using soft power doesn't mean that countries give up more blunt tools of foreign policy,” he added. “Using soft power does not preclude using coercive measures.”

Among China’s most successful recent cultural exports are the Labubu dolls, a pop culture phenomenon that sent sales of their creator, Pop Mart, soaring by over 100% in 2024, thanks in part to their growing popularity in Western markets.

Their rise has been fuelled by TikTok, the video app built by Beijing-based ByteDance and now used by more than one billion people, including almost half the population of the United States.

TikTok’s rise is peculiar as the app is banned in China, a country known for blocking popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and X. 

As well, this app’s global dominance has demonstrated how lines between soft power and geopolitics intersect. Recently, the US and China reportedly reached an agreement to transfer TikTok’s U.S. operations to American investors, ending years of speculation that the platform could be used by Beijing to spread propaganda through its algorithm.

The agreement even became one of the most-discussed outcomes of Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump’s meeting at the APEC summit in South Korea in October.

For Loh, the Labubu craze represented a more organic way of harnessing soft power for China — one detached from the ruling Communist Party’s influence, and therefore less prone to Western suspicion. 

“Labubus have underlined the potential of private industry, of society , of apolitical elements of soft power and how it can go global pretty quickly with very little intervention from the state,” he said. 

“In many ways, these are the most authentic kinds of soft power because you see the absence largely of the state,” he added. “It's done almost on a purely commercial basis. People do not think that it is threatening or suspicious.”

With or without Xi’s direction, China is rapidly emerging as a formidable challenger to the Western-dominated cultural landscape. Whether this ascent — like the Labubu dolls and TikTok themselves — will prove a passing fad or a lasting trend remains to be seen.

“It shows that Chinese-created cultural products can have global aesthetic appeal,” Loh said. “It shows that cultural products from the West do not have a complete monopoly or dominance over media , cultural entertainment, or sporting domains.” 

“Whether or not this represents a longer-term shift into the acceptance of Chinese products or Chinese cultural products, we will have to wait and see for a bit longer. 

“I am doing this because I want to promote and preserve our culture , to show everyone that this is who we are, and we are proud of our culture,” Masaloon shared with Viory.

The footage shows Masaloon collecting the rats with other tribe members before preparing them in traditional ways. She says the dish has been passed down for generations. “Our father, our mother, taught us how to catch them and cook. It has been eaten since the time of our ancestors... even by the new generation today,” she said.

Despite the growing support online, Masaloon has also faced online ridicule, with some commenters mocking her appearance. “All of those hurtful words, I just use them as a way to make myself stronger,” she said.

Ambow Girl has over 220,000 followers and continues to share her tribal life.

Footage from this year’s event captured by Viory shows dramatic scenes at the Bang Liao Shrine, where devotees known as 'Mah Song' or “Horses of the gods” entered trances believed to be guided by divine possession. In these altered states, participants had their cheeks pierced with swords, rods, tree branches, and even tools like axes and machetes. Others were seen walking barefoot over burning embers, part of the traditional fire-walking ceremony.

According to tradition, the Mah Song’s pain-defying acts serve a purpose of absorbing bad luck and misfortune, protecting the community from evil spirits, and ensuring good fortune in the year to come.

Each day of the festival sees loud processions through the streets of Phuket Town, with devotees parading past shrines, firecrackers in the background, and the air thick with incense smoke.