The Chinese media reported yesterday that the pair will perform Little Apple at the American Music Awards this Sunday, along with stars more familiar to Americans, including Mary J. Blige, Fergie, and One Direction. The show could be a breakthrough for the country’s soft-power campaign, an effort by the state-backed entertainment industry to make Chinese culture more popular worldwide. 

In fact it may be that the distinction between "hard" and "soft" power may be morphing into a new concept put forward by Prof Nye, that of "smart power".

The Sydney Symphony Orchestra has a won a prize in the inaugural Australia-China achievement awards.  The orchestra won in the arts section of the awards, which are administered by the Australia-China Council at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking at the close of the G20 in Australia on Sunday, said that China was confident it could fulfill its role as the chair of the 2016 summit, after Turkey in 2015.

Chinese President Xi Jinping's crackdown on government corruption, which began almost two years ago, has had a profound impact in China itself.  It is also hurting a specialized niche of the U.S. tourism industry. 

G20 leaders in Brisbane have engaged in so-called koala diplomacy, cuddling the typically Australian creatures, but over the years, various animals have played a role in diplomatic occasioins involving China. 

CCTV America promotes itself as the "media crossroads where news and views about the world's two largest national economies intersect and sometimes collide".

US President Barack Obama took to the stage at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, on a day which had the soles of your shoes melting.(...) President Obama hit all the signature tenets of US public diplomacy and foreign policy - freedom of speech and internet freedom, democratic values, gender equality, minority rights, rights for LGBTI persons.