According to Quanjude, which boasts of having sold 196 million ducks around the world, the dish has played its part in Chinese international relations. Its chefs would accompany Chinese diplomatic missions and pictures in the museum show Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon, who made a landmark visit to China in 1972, eating duck.

The new economic program seems intended to counter China's recently growing influence over Caribbean countries. Beijing has diplomatic relations with nine of the 14 countries, with President Xi Jinping having paid a visit to Trinidad and Tobago last year. Abe explained Japan's policy of proactively contributing to global peace, security and prosperity, and reiterated Tokyo's appeal to the international community to resolve territorial and maritime disputes peacefully and in accordance with international laws, and not by force or intimidation.

Beijing knows how important China is for Hollywood and it can afford to make high demands. Western producers are still lining up to get access to the Chinese market. In addition to mercantile barriers, China has also set up cultural barriers to Hollywood. The goal is to make sure the local film industry isn't suffocated by Hollywood. And, fascinated by Hollywood's soft power, the leadership in Beijing is dreaming of setting up their own big industry in the medium term. Hollywood, India's Bollywood, now soon "Chinawood"?

Mention China and most Westerners will think about its food. This is not surprising given the popularity of Chinese cuisine in the West, where some countries have more restaurants serving Chinese dishes than the traditional local fair. Perhaps this is why China appears exotic and wondrous to many Westerners.

China is poised to displace the U.S. as the world’s biggest business-travel market by 2016, aided by accelerating export growth and slowing inflation.  In China, the increasing pace of exports since mid-2013, consumer prices running below government targets and nominal wage gains that support more spending and profit growth are contributing to an expansion in the market. 

On a Chinese hospital ship off Hawaii, crew members demonstrate traditional massage techniques to U.S. sailors. The mood is one of collegiality, even after China opted out of Japan-led humanitarian drills at the world’s largest international naval exercise.

China has been quietly working to recreate one of the most legendary trade routes, "the Silk Road", linking Africa to the Middle East (Iraq and Iran) to India, to Indonesia and all culminating in Beijing, while at the same time the reverse leg of the route goes to Kazakhstan, Moscow and ultimately, Germany. The purpose: "to enhance political and economic ties with southeast Asia and beyond."

Most notably, China is currently participating in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, for the first time this month. As previously noted, China sent the second largest delegation to the RIMPAC exercise this year. Its RIMPAC fleet includes the missile destroyer Haikou, the missile frigate Yueyang, the supply vessel Qiandaohu, the Peace Ark hospital ship, two helicopters and a dive unit, along with 1,100 personnel.