Due to technological blockades from Western countries, China is shifting its focus from traditional hard-tech-dominated 5G infrastructure, spearheaded by companies such as Huawei, to harnessing digital soft power as digital cultural diplomacy and a new way of promoting its Digital Silk Road (DSR). The DSR is the technology arm of China’s global infrastructure investment strategy, the Belt and Road Initiative. China has been exporting digital cultural products that function as non-state actors, including video games such as Black Myth: Wukong, which incorporates Chinese localized narratives, mythologies and traditional cultures. In doing so, China is positioning non-state actors as agents of national influence, aiming to reshape its global image and establish itself as a cultural powerhouse. Chinese video game players are using Black Myth as a platform to amplify grassroots voices, express resistance and provide outlets for counter-national narratives. Through playful resistance in gameplay and social media posts, they challenge and critique China’s current social problems. This phenomenon complicates the predominant mainstream media narratives about the implications of the country’s digital soft power expansion.
