Jeonghyun Oh

I am a master’s student in Shanghai Jiao Tong University, majoring in political science. Before joining the program, I worked as a real-time TV news caster in Seoul, and interned in various institutions including German Parliament in Berlin.

I am one of the happiest expatriates in China. If I may be honest, worries had outweighed excitements in my head before landing in Shanghai. But now, excitements dominate both my head and heart. My every day here is fairly different from non-Chinese media’s portrayal about China, which is why I think Beijing’s soft power agenda is so crucial for China, and the same applies to any country without powerful media or soft power in a global scale.

Besides all the fascinating technological breakthroughs sweeping all over China like wechat, alipay, mobike, you name it, what amazed me was how terrific Chinese culture products –both traditional and modern- were. Listening to Chinese pop music and watching Chinese television and movies, I had to ask my Chinese friends several times, “Why do you even like K-pop, K-dramas and Hollywood films more? Chinese ones are just as, if not even more, amazing!” I genuinely believe in the potential of Chinese soft power, and that is why I wrote my article in this competition.

Besides broader and deeper insight about China and the world, I gained here my newest hobby, taijiquan. I speak Korean, English, and German fluently. I am currently learning Mandarin Chinese to improve it to the level where I can have access to the almost limitless amount of literature and information in Chinese.