Beijing's Bland Battlefield The recent success of "Once Upon a Time in the Middle East" has set tongues wagging about China's soft power ambitions.
This film, like its predecessors, is part of Beijing's ongoing campaign to promote a carefully curated version of reality abroad.
While it's easy to dismiss this as mere propaganda, the real significance of "Once Upon a Time" lies not in its explicitly stated message but in what it subtly conveys about China's worldview.