From 22 to 30 March, Chinese President Xi Jinping paid state visits to Russia, Tanzania, South Africa and the Republic of Congo, and attended the Fifth BRICS Leaders' Meeting. On the way back, Foreign Minister Wang Yi briefed the accompanying journalists about the president's visit.

China has used various forms of soft power as a form of diplomatic currency in the past. There was the ping pong diplomacy of the early 1970s. There was also panda diplomacy. Now China is expanding its soft power diplomacy to luxury vehicles. According to the Wall Street Journal, last Friday, Beijing donated 20 Chinese-designed and manufactured Hongqi, or Red Flag, vehicles to the Pacific island nation of Fiji. The fleet of sedans is estimated to have cost around $2.3 million.

Starting on May 3, the White House's petition website has become a favored landing spot for Chinese Web users, and the hashtag #occupytheWhiteHouse, and a variety of related memes, has recently appeared on Chinese social media platforms. The origin of this chatter provides a case study in censorship, Chinese netizen humor, American soft power, and the unintended consequences of a (sometimes) borderless Internet.

He may be no Black Mamba like Kobe Bryant, but Vice President Jejomar Binay unabashedly dribbled around Yao Ming, as if challenging the 7’6” former Houston Rockets center to a one-on-one. A shocked Binay welcomed Yao and his Shanghai Sharks to his Coconut Palace Monday morning, gaping at the giant and looking up to shake hands with the retired NBA player.

According to a recently released report, India is among the top-10 most powerful countries in the world. This is a first-of-its-kind study of "national power" by leading strategic experts and scholars from the Foundation for National Security Research (FSNR) in New Delhi.

Forget panda diplomacy. China has added a new weapon to its soft-power arsenal — home-grown luxury cars. On Friday, Beijing donated 20 Chinese-made Hongqi, or Red Flag, sedans worth around $2.3 million, to the Pacific nation of Fiji.

Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop on Thursday hailed cultural exchanges between Scotland and the Chinese side to promote friendship and people-to-people exchanges.

China is a big country with a variety of well-developed regional cuisines that are generally considered delicious. And while we know there are many things China doesn't do well, soft power-wise, the one area where it could be said to have some soft power at its disposal is food. Chinese restaurants can more or less be found anywhere Chinese people can be found, which is many, many places.