Since coming to Hong Kong in January, Brian Cooklin has been busy making selections. The principal of Nord Anglia International School has been swamped with more than 1,000 teaching and 500 student applications as he prepares for its opening in September.

Screams rang out Saturday night across the Los Angeles Sports Arena as Taiwanese band Mayday brought its brand of Asian stadium rock to an all-Chinese audience for a show celebrating its 15th anniversary.

So held federal District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan in yesterday’s Zhang v. Baidu, Inc. An excerpt (one paragraph break added): In this suit, a group of New York residents who advocate for increased democracy in China sue one of China’s largest companies, Baidu, Inc…. Plaintiffs contend that Baidu, which operates an Internet search engine akin to Google, unlawfully blocks from its search results here in the United States articles and other information concerning “the Democracy movement in China” and related topics.

In an international version of the blame game, Beijing and Tokyo have frequently resorted to historical analogies in their argument about which side is responsible for the deterioration of bilateral relations. In a Jan. 22 speech, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe compared China and Japan today to Germany and Britain on the eve of World War I.

It was a big family reunion as more than 300 people from Chinese and US sister cities and sister provinces and states got together on Wednesday evening at the Chinese Embassy in Washington DC. Participants came from all parts of the two nations, such as Qinghai province in Northwest China and Fort Worth, Texas, for the US-China Sister Cities Conference in Washington on March 26-28.

One significant feature in U.S.-Chinese relations in recent years has been the establishment of Confucius Institutes in many American universities, where faculty from China provide instruction in Chinese language and offer programs on Chinese culture to American audiences. Just as some view China’s increasing global power with trepidation, many also see the spread of these institutes in an ominous light.

Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed here Monday that the United States should honor its commitment to respect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity on the Taiwan and Tibet issues. At a meeting with his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit slated for Monday and Tuesday, Xi said Washington should never support any activities aimed at separating China.

First lady, Michelle Obama is currently visiting China with her daughters, Sasha and Malia and her mother, Marian Robinson. The trip marks the first ever made by a first lady to China without her husband in tow. Mrs. Obama is there to promote educational exchanges between the U.S. and China but she has also subtly been addressing the issue of freedom of expression.