re: The huge benefits of soft power
Yeah, well that's why Nixon is considered such a great president.
I even hear some wisps of China doing more towards getting Sudan to stop it genocide. It's been 4 years and thousands of dead due to a systematic murdering campaign but at least now, China seems to be showing some interest in stopping it.
But regardless of all the apparent heavy lifting with it's soft power, what would impress me more is if the Chinese did something to end it's hostility to Taiwan. Maybe they just improving their diplomatic chops elsewhere before they apply it seriously to Taiwan.