Toshiko Takeuchi’s fears of her Chinese table tennis opponents dissipated when she saw the unfamiliar players smiling and enjoying the moment. “Just like us, they are simply athletes who love pingpong,” Takeuchi, 67, said she thought during the World Table Tennis Championships here in 1971. She also had no idea that the tournament would help change the course of world history.

Four female koalas have just made their debut in front of an adoring public at Singapore Zoo – the latest in a long line of animals used for diplomatic purposes. [...] As Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s media release says, the koalas' visit will “further build on our long-standing constructive relationship”.

Premier Li Keqiang is bringing along another group on his trip to Latin America as he tries to increase China’s influence and soft power in the region – novelists. A special delegation will attend a seminar in Colombia on cultural exchanges between China and Latin America, the People’s Daily reported.

BEIJING — Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi squared off in talks Saturday over China asserting sovereignty onman-made islands it is creating near heavily trafficked sea lanes in the South China Sea.

On the second day of his trip to China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went viral. Shortly after presiding over a stunning joint demonstration of yoga and Chinese Tai chi at the iconic Temple of Heaven, Modi snapped a selfie with his counterpart Li Keqiang.

India isn’t the only place where Narendra Modi is making front-page news. Two days into his tour of China, the country’s closely monitored media can’t seem to get enough of the Indian prime minister.

While dragons have been the symbol of imperial power for centuries in the Middle Kingdom, its government prefers to use the cuddly panda as a diplomatic gift to project its softer side. The dragon-to-panda transformation is a carefully thought-out image makeover by China’s top leadership: with their rising global power, they understand the need to reassure the world that they are a force for good, more like the panda than the dragon