Stuck Between the Great Powers: Secondary Countries’ Responses to Soft Power Competition Between the US and China During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The recent and increasingly antagonistic relationship between the world’s two great powers, the United States and China, has caused collateral damage to many secondary countries as their interests might rely on amicable relationships with both the US and China. Employing soft power as the theoretical framework, this study is one of the first empirical investigations of how the divergent US and Chinese anti-virus approaches (i.e., mitigation strategies vs. zero COVID policy) may influence people’s policy preferences in secondary countries. A two-wave cross-national panel survey (n = 3,216) was conducted in four Asian societies: South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The results disclose an uneven game regarding the soft power competition between the US and China: Asian publics with greater confidence in the US anti-virus approach perceive domestic anti-virus measures as restrictive, and express less support for international trade; whereas, Asian publics trusting China’s anti-virus approach express no specific preferences for domestic anti-virus measures, but more support for international trade and immigration. These findings illustrate differential responses from Asian publics to the US’s and China’s soft power practices in different policy arenas. This study contributes to the emerging literature linking COVID-19 to soft power, public diplomacy, and international relations.