Hollywood may not have the same powerful influence it had in the past but the truth is that it's still a very powerful tool. It doesn't have to mitigate Asian hate, but it can kowtow to China because China's market, that's the real power. If Hollywood were to turn against China it will be another avenue the west can use to fuel even more hate. I'm not talking about a pro-China movie here, I'm talking about China having the ability to make Hollywood bow down and not cast China as the forever bad guys. Another thing that people have to be careful about is falling prey to this "anti-woke" nonsense, that language belongs to racist republicans. Having a black mermaid in a fantasy film should be treated like the insignificant issue that it is, it's no reason to start some weird ideological war.
People need to be careful, most here don't remember the old Cold War and just because China has become an economic super power some young folks are starting to get a bit arrogant. China's rise to the top isn't guaranteed and what could stagnate China's power is hubris by people who think China's rise is automatic. Play the game but don't play it the way your enemy wants you to play. What the US wants is a clear antagonist so they can rally everyone around, don't give that to them. Keep their businesses reliant on Chinese markets and embed the Chinese economy into the global system so much that any confrontation will be very costly. Pulling away and thinking China has reached a stage it can do everything on its own will be a mistake borne from arrogance.
