Japan called on China to do more to restrain North Korea and its nuclear program during a visit to Tokyo by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday, a day after the American diplomat and Beijing leaders pledged to work together to restart talks with Pyongyang. Mr. Kerry shuttled between North Asian capitals over the weekend in a bid to avert a broader crisis in the region fueled by Pyongyang's threats to attack U.S. and allied targets in the Pacific.

Over a long day of diplomacy in Beijing, Mr Kerry warned Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping that the stakes were high as China's erratic ally North Korea threatens a missile launch that would extend a weeks-long crisis. The region has been engulfed by threats of nuclear war by Pyongyang in response to UN sanctions imposed over its recent rocket and nuclear tests, and Mr Kerry stressed that China has a unique sway over North Korea.

The pundits believe this is a honeymoon period for China and South Korea. Ironically, it is happening as Pyongyang has been ratcheting up its rhetoric and war posturing.

Around 160 events featuring French and Chinese cultural displays or performances will be staged across China during the near-three-month Sino-French cultural exchange festival, which opened here on Wednesday.

The opening of Confucius Institutes this week in New York and Washington brings a key part of China's "soft power" initiative to the United States. On Tuesday, administrators at Columbia University will cut the ribbon to inaugurate the Confucius Institute at the Ivy League school in Manhattan. A day later, it will be George Washington University that does the honors, on a campus within walking distance of the US State Department and blocks away from the White House and Capitol Hill.

Zhao Qizheng, former chairman of the foreign affairs committee of China's top political advisory body, said we tended to speak too much "philosophy" and principles when foreign exchanges. Actually, telling Chinese stories can touch people and Chinese features lie in the stories. Zhao make the remarks during the sub-session of the Boao Forum for Asia, Boao dialogue: public diplomacy and intercultural communication, in Boao, south China's Hainan province on Sunday.

It may take a few years before the Chinese fully understand soft power. Soft power, as a concept, has been widely discussed in China, the understanding of which mainly comes from the explanation of the man who first outlined it, American scholar Joseph Nye, and observations of US soft power. But China may adopt a different means to developing soft power.