People who speak different dialects or languages can still communicate with written Chinese.

I remember at a conference talking to a Japanese guy and a guy from Korea. I wrote my name in Chinese and they could both read it, but said it in their native language.

I have my doubts regarding this. We're already seeing a situation where different groups within a single culture, the young and the old, use many common emoji in ways that differ dramatically (at least in the west), sometimes even with opposing meanings. If the meanings of emoji aren't stable even within a single culture, how could they ever hope to transcend culture?

Of course, the fascinating thing is that different groups of kids use the same emoji slightly differently. So.