While China’s economy raced ahead on the back of its low-cost manufacturing skills, India has become an information technology hub because of the skills of its software engineers. But concerns are growing that India may be losing the edge as China pours much more money into science, research and innovation.

Culture is critical to the future of the Party because it goes to the heart of the Party's hold on power. Economic growth has contributed to its legitimacy, but the public's belief that only the Party can make China a strong country is its real trump card. To maintain this illusion, the usual way is fulminating against the foreign forces that are trying to hold back China's rise with "Cold War thinking."

Few Indian films have made as deep an impact in China since the days of Raj Kapoor as Rajkumar Hirani's 2009 film, 3 Idiots. The film struck an instant chord with China's famously overworked students, so much so that some Chinese universities were even prescribing the film in their coursework as a kind of stress-relief in their classrooms.

Hostile international powers are strengthening their efforts to Westernise and divide us," Hu wrote in an article, noting "ideological and cultural fields" are the main targets. "We must be aware of the seriousness and complexity of the struggles and take powerful measures to prevent and deal with them.

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hong Lei...summed up China's diplomatic achievements in 2011, and said China will adhere to the path of peaceful development...China safeguarded the security and rights of Chinese nationals... and carried out public and cultural diplomacy

Yue-Sai Kan reckons that the Miss Universe competition is as good a vehicle as any for China to project soft power...Kan has made a great effort in the past 20 years to modernize the image of China that is projected to the world, much of it through television.

As part of its public diplomacy exercise, China invited 500 Indian youth, who met Premier Wen Jiabao in the Great Hall of People on September 23. The youth delegation was led by India’s Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Ajay Maken.

Yes, those pesky giant pandas from Sichuan province are causing trouble again. Earlier this month, we noted that the media was hailing the arrival of Sweetie and Sunshine at the Edinburgh Zoo in Scotland as the latest chapter in China's grand tradition of "panda diplomacy,"...