For the last two decades and more, Chinese-American Zhao Qiguang has given countless talks and lectures on Chinese culture in the United States...To Zhao, international cultural exchanges are no less important than bilateral trade, and he feels there is a definite deficit at the moment.

China may therefore need to modify its religious and ethnic policies in order to keep up with changing times. If China fails to adjust its policies, the silence or murmurs heard among its Muslim population might gradually begin manifesting themselves in angry protests in the model of the Arab Spring.

Prof. Alexander Alexiev, Bulgarian Director of the Confucius Institute in Sofia, told Xinhua he and prof. Gu Weiping, the new Chinese Director of this institute, have decided to introduce this gymnastics in Bulgaria..."Ideally, this gymnastics should be practiced twice a day, like a person brushing his teeth: the same way one has to do exercises in order to be healthy," Alexiev said.

After disagreement over how to deal with the issue at a summit in Phnom Penh on July 13, where ASEAN leaders failed to release a joint communique for the first time in the group's 45-year history, Indonesia’s foreign minister Marty Natalegawa has circulated a proposal for six principles on resolving disputes in the South China Sea. The principles emphasize implementation of a code of conduct, having self-restraint without the use of force, and the seeking of peaceful resolutions.

“Why do American Presidents not like Chinese?” This profound question came from the mouth of a 12 year old girl, Hannah Liu, in the Hunan province during a visit last summer. From public statements by Obama and Romney to dozens of political ads released during the 2010, 2011, and 2012 election cycles, China is receiving the message of U.S. public opinion loud and clear.

"We recognise that countries such as China, India and Brazil are gaining influence less because of the size of their armies than because of the growth of their economies," Clinton wrote in an oped in 'New Statesman' published yesterday.

Chinese president Hu Jintao on Thursday pledged African governments 20 billion in credit over the next three years and called for more China-Africa coordination international affairs to defend against the "bullying" of richer powers.

Recently, Israeli leaders have made successive high profile visits to China, while engaging in considerable public diplomacy efforts vis-à-vis the Chinese people. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even greeted the Chinese people in their native Mandarin during their New Year’s Festival.