A curated selection of public diplomacy-relevant news from a global cross-section of English-language media outlets, including independent, corporate-owned, and state-sponsored sources. The stories featured don't necessarily represent CPD's views nor have they been verified by CPD.
‘Ha-pi-tu-mi-te-yu’ is the greeting as Beijing welcomes the Olympics
In the seven years since the Olympic movement anointed Beijing as host of the 2008 Summer Games, China's capital has undergone a transformation so thoroughgoing that "makeover" doesn't begin to describe the change.
Homegrown threats top Olympics security worries-official
Tian Yixiang, head of the Beijing Olympic Games Security Protection Coordinating Group, said the top "terror" threats to the August Games come from Uighur militants campaigning for independence for Xinjiang in China's far northwest, from Tibetan independence groups, and from followers of the banned Falun Gong sect.
Mao dropped from new China note
For the first time in nearly a decade China is issuing new banknotes without the image of Chairman Mao Zedong. The 10 yuan ($1.5; £0.75) notes instead feature Beijing's new Olympic stadium on the front, with an ancient Greek statue of a discus thrower on the back.
“Kung Fu Panda” punches away at controls on creativity
The box office blockbuster was the center of discussions for a panel meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee (CPPCC) when the head of the China National Peking Opera Company asked, "Why can't we make a cartoon as popular as 'Kung Fu Panda'?" They agreed on a recommendation to the government that it should relax its control in order to accelerate the reform and opening up of the cultural market and to enhance China's cultural influence in the world.
Covering the Olympics
In 2001, China's Communist leaders promised the International Olympic Committee to allow free press access to both the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the country as a whole. So far signs aren't good that Beijing will stick to its word. Witness the case of Norman Choy, a senior reporter with Hong Kong's Apple Daily who was turned away at the Beijing airport on July 1.
China media clamps slammed a month before Olympics
A month before the Olympics, China continues to severely breach its pledge to allow full media freedoms, harassing and restricting foreign journalists in Tibet and elsewhere, Human Rights Watch said in a new report on Monday.
Al-Hurra Is Thriving
The June 23 front-page story about al- Hurra television, "U.S. Network Falters in Mideast Mission," failed to acknowledge the significant successes of the U.S.-funded Arabic-language broadcast and reflected a fundamental misunderstanding of U.S. international broadcasting. By law, the mission of U.S. international broadcasting is journalistic -- not propagandistic.
Amazing Soft Power
Next January a new administration will take over in Washington. Regardless of who is elected, there will be an opportunity to introduce soft power into the context of U.S. foreign policy to Iraq and around the world...Nowhere in the Middle East has U.S. soft power been more historically effective than in Lebanon.
Pages
Visit CPD's Online Library
Explore CPD's vast online database featuring the latest books, articles, speeches and information on international organizations dedicated to public diplomacy.