Don Starr says that he remembers thinking after the Confucius Institutes initiative was announced in 2004 that: ‘This is going to have a big impact.’His instincts seem to have been right. When I spoke to the long-time China educator and scholar about the now seven-year-old Chinese soft power programme, he also told me that one of the reasons it can be considered a huge success is its unexpectedly rapid expansion. ‘

Eighteen pages into his opening address at the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on Thursday, Jia Qinglin paused to note the importance of promoting China abroad.

Chinese leaders repeatedly assure other nations that they have nothing to fear from China's "peaceful rise" - its emergence as a major economic and diplomatic player on the global stage. There are indications, however, that China's increasing economic strength is translating into applications of influence and power that are less benign than Beijing would have the world believe.

As part of the introduction to our ongoing culture series on Chinese soft power and Confucius Institutes, I’ve already touched on the fact that there’s actually very little connection between the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius and Confucius Institutes, (although from a branding perspective, the name seems to be working well on various levels).

Chinese foreign policy has not escaped the dramatic transformations in that key country in our region. The foreign policy of China has become more sophisticated and less dogmatic, characterized by its increasing reliance on soft power.

Following a year marked by a number of diplomatic strains with its neighbours, China will look to boost its public diplomacy initiatives in coming months to address concerns about its rise, officials said this week.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Ms Hina Rabbani Khar on Thursday said Pakistan considers relations with China of utmost importance and appreciates its support for economic development.

Sports have often been a bridge between cultures. Even when politicians have tried to use sports for propaganda purposes, the spirit of sports has often overcome political problems. The 1936 Olympics come to mind. Hitler’s “master race” blew up in his face because of Jesse Owens.