US Secretary of State John Kerry said a global deal to limit climate change could not have been won without China's help "to build a working partnership". But that soft power win was of short duration. With the thugs outside Pu Zhiqiang's trial, Beijing was back to form, squandering soft power as if it had no use for it.

In historical efforts at cultivating soft power –​ Australia's public image overseas –​ we've leaned pretty heavily on the wildlife [...] Koalas. Beaches. Barbecues. Where's the messaging that Australia is a successful, multicultural, safe, educated, vibrant democracy; the 12th biggest economy in the world; the home of the world's oldest living culture; of Cate Blanchett and Hugh Jackman but also Atlassian and Canva; of the inventors of WiFi, the black box and Gardasil? 

The fourth new project will support the stepping up of EU engagement in China through people-to-people contacts: EU Policy and Outreach Partnership in China (€1.8 million) is a Public Diplomacy tool which aims at giving the EU a stronger voice and at reinforcing its capacity to engage with local publics and stakeholders.

Entitled "Preparing Athletes for 2016 Rio Olympics", the Forum aims to offer a valuable opportunity for local and overseas experts to exchange views on trainingstrategies and application of science and technology in providing support to athletes.

While China’s foreign policy has traditionally relied on economic leverage and “soft power” diplomacy as its primary means of power projection, Beijing has also been actively exploiting concepts associated with strategic information operations as a means to directly influence the process and outcomes in areas of strategic competition.

During the latest China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a new development assistance deal for Africa. The $60 billion development package will include a string of zero-interest loans for infrastructure projects. But the latest deals also include more cultural exchange projects as well as scholarships and training programs for Africans.

Many African entrepreneurs today consider China as the new land of opportunities. One of them is Nathalie Fodderie from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) […] Through her journey, we see how African and Chinese traders grapple with geographic and cultural hurdles to make a profit.

BASED IN Hong Kong, the South China Morning Post has a distinguished 112-year history as an independent news source, in English, about China […] Chinese Internet mogul Jack Ma’s company, Alibaba, has just announced plans to buy the paper [...] It may well be that the South China Morning Post is about to be molded into a pseudo-private instrument of the Chinese state’s “soft power,” […]