John Lee examines how China’s campaign of historical distortion is recycled on the public stage to justify Beijing’s increasingly assertive political, military, and territorial actions. Lee also outlines a series of targeted soft-power policy options that, if implemented, would openly and frequently challenge the historical revisionism Beijing employs to justify its hegemonic ambitions.

Caption
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters after watching people board a repatriation flight bound for Colombia in Panama City on February 3, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AFP via Getty Images)