system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why hasn't Chinese-language entertainment enjoyed a similar wave of popularity as entertainment from Japan (anime, J-pop, games), and Korea (dorama, K-pop)?

I'm from the United States and from time to time like listening to music from different parts of the world.  I am aware that Japan has a very diverse music scene that ranges from upbeat, relatively accessible "J-Pop" bands to more avant-garde, noisy, and psychedelic acts like Merzbow and Boris.  South Korea also seems to have a lot of popular acts (even if we are to ignore PSY/Gangnam Style) that Western audiences like listening to even if they don't understand anything.  It seems that Chinese-language (by Chinese, I mean primarily Mandarin and Cantonese) music, and entertainment media in general, has never enjoyed the same amount of popularity, and I am wondering why that is.

The first thing that came to mind was that many it is because of China's restrictive government, but then I remembered that there are many, many speakers of Chinese languages who do not live in China, and there are places like Taiwan, Macau, and Hong Kong that are full of Chinese speakers and, if I am not mistaken, have governments not as restrictive as China.  You would think that given the sheer number of Chinese speakers, not only in these countries but in Western places like the US, there would be at least a handful of Chinese-language bands or movie studios that would enjoy a great degree of popularity with Americans and other Westerners.  I know that "Mandopop" does exist, and that there are people who enjoy kung fu movies, but I still feel that Japan and Korea have had more success exporting their media to the West than Chinese speakers/countries have.  Does anyone have any insight/thoughts about this?

EDIT:  Thanks for the responses, everyone.  I'm marking this "explained" since I now have a significantly better understanding of the situation.
gpt
Hong Kong Action movies anyone? Taiwan gets alot of respect in independent cinema for it's output of films.

Japan have consistently failed to expand westward with the exception of Anime mainly because it has few competitors(non-kid oriented animation). Korean however likes to act as though it made it big in the west....

K-pop, k-dramas, etc. is primarily popular among Asians world wide because the south korean entertainment industry is among the best in Asia while making a huge effort to expand abroad(they try harder). It is however not very popular in west(How many non-Asians know who G-Dragon, 2NE1, Drunken Tiger, etc. is?).


It's worth noting the Chinese market is strong enough to ignore the west based on sheer population. Likewise for bollywood....India's film industry gives no fucks that western critics dislike singing, mustaches, lack of sex, and cheesy love stories. 

EDIT: Karen Mok is the shit!