, Columnist
The ‘Becoming Chinese’ Meme Is a Flex of Soft Power
American YouTube star IShowSpeed (AKA Darren Jason Watkins Jr.) in China last year.
Photographer: He Penglei/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images
I usually miss memes until they’ve peaked. So I’ve just become aware that, since the middle of last year, a lot of people were turning Chinese.
Specifically, non-Chinese individuals in the US, Canada and the UK have been posting short video confessionals on Tiktok, X and Instagram saying they are “becoming Chinese” while sipping from a tea cup filled with hot water or picking up steamed dumplings with chopsticks or practicing Tai Chi. The only advantage I have with this phenomenon — which is also labeled “Chinamaxxing” — is that I was born Chinese, so I’ve had quite a lot of practice.