Meanwhile, China’s learning curve on the use of soft power is becoming increasingly impressive.

With Chinese President Xi Jinping set to arrive in Athens on Sunday, Greece will be keen to use the trip to its advantage while not upsetting its allies within the European Union or the United States, observers say.

Xi is set to meet Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis for the second time in a matter of days, after Mitsotakis visited Shanghai earlier in the week for the China International Import Expo. On that occasion Xi floated the possibility of Greece “becoming a logistics centre” for handling Chinese goods exported to Europe.

During his three-day trip, Xi is expected to visit Piraeus - the Mediterranean Sea port controlled by China’s state-owned Cosco - witness the opening of a new Bank of China branch in Athens, and visit historical sites such as the Acropolis.

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This is how it’s done and if the Chinese can continue on this path of pursuing soft power and increasing their global reach and influence, it won’t be much longer until we see China emerge as a true global hegemon, much as the USA is (or was before Trump) today.

Anecdotally, I can tell you that the best-selling smartphones here in Czech Republic are Huawei and it’s derivatives (Honor, etc.) and Huawei is building the 5G network here, after having secured some very lucrative contracts, most notably with the Czech Ministry of Finance.