The government has ordered TV stations to increase the airing of “patriotic” shows, of which anti-Japan dramas are exhibit No. 1. On Aug. 15, the anniversary of Japan’s surrender, a headline in the Global Times, a party newspaper, said, “Prime time TV to be more anti-fascist.” China has a long tradition of producing war movies for propaganda purposes, mostly good-versus-evil dramas drawn from the all-too-real and brutal war against Japan. 

A latest poll unveiled on Tuesday that tapping public diplomacy to repair bilateral relations continued to attract public support from both China and Japan.  The contribution of people-to-people interactions to improving ties were endorsed by 64.4 percent of the Japanese public and 63.4 percent of its Chinese counterpart, , according to the 10th Public Opinion on China-Japan Relations survey, which has been co-sponsored annually by China Daily and Japanese nonprofit think tank Genron NPO.

On the morning of September 8, Harvard University celebrated what school President Drew Gilpin Faust called an historic moment after it received a $350 million gift from a wealthy Hong Kong family. The gift, to the Harvard School of Public Health, is the largest ever in the university's 378 years of history. It may sound like a victory for Chinese soft power, but many Chinese netizens are angry that the money isn't being directed toward domestic concerns.

China and at least two Asean members–the Philippines and Vietnam–remain locked in territorial disputes over the South China Sea.  Beijing seeks to allay fears in Asean as it strengthens its economic and military clout in the region. One way to do this, an official said, is for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to engage in what it calls “e-public diplomacy.”

Hollywood triumphed in China this summer afterTransformers: Age of Extinction broke all previous box office records there, selling over $300 million worth of tickets against a $244 million U.S. take. But jubilation over the film's Chinese success has been dampened somewhat by jeers from major news outlets in the West that Transformers 4 was yet another example of Hollywood's selling out to China. Critics of the film point to its numerous Chinese product placements, generously featured Chinese landmarks, cameos by Chinese pop stars, and a pro-Chinese-government message.

If it wants to strengthen its presence in the international community and adequately inform a wider audience abroad about itself, Japan should strategically strengthen its public relations overseas and promote cultural exchanges with other nations. In its budgetary request for fiscal 2015, the Foreign Ministry has requested about 50 billion yen (about $475 million) for a new key budgetary item called "strategic proliferation of information abroad."

The Dalai Lama is losing friends all over the place as the world undergoes a geopolitical realignment. The Dalai Lama used to be the guy everyone wanted at their party. But since China's emergence as an economic superpower, he's become an awkward guest to invite. Around the world, governments are limiting their contact with him — in some cases because of direct pressure by China, and in other cases, because of the chilling effect that pressure creates.