As part of their growing competition for influence in Asia, China and India are using the Buddha as weapon: sponsoring conferences, financing religious sites, and displaying relics in countries where the religion is widely adhered to.

Although China's public diplomacy efforts have run into obstacles over the years, great progress has still been made, international students and Chinese experts said at a recent roundtable in Beijing. Nine University of Southern California (USC) students majoring in public diplomacy also participated in this meeting.

The NIC foresees a transformed world, in which “no country — whether the US, China, or any other large country — will be a hegemonic power.” This reflects four “megatrends”: individual empowerment and the growth of a global middle class; diffusion of power from states to informal networks and coalitions; demographic changes, owing to urbanisation, migration, and aging; and increased demand for food, water and energy.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday said that promoting relations with Russia is a priority for Chinese diplomacy as he met with a Russian delegation in Beijing.
Xi, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, told Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev that China will continue to push forward a bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination.

In 2006, a 5-year-old captive-bred giant panda named Xiang Xiang ("Lucky") was released into the wild — the first of his kind to make that transition. Ten months later, he was dead. Chinese wildlife officials reported at the time that it appeared Xiang Xiang had suffered fatal internal injuries after being attacked by other wild-born male pandas in a battle for food and territory.

China's official news service plans an initial public offering for its digital arm, potentially giving it needed heft in a market where staid state-run media compete for an audience with attention-grabbing headlines and slide shows of attractive women.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will leave office later this month, with Senator John Kerry expected to succeed her. Some Chinese view Clinton as an outstanding political figure. However, public aversion to her in China in recent years has been rising.

It was reported by South Korean media that Liu Qiang, a Chinese man who threw Molotov cocktails at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo in 2011, returned home after the Seoul High Court ruled that Liu's arson attack didn't justify his extradition to Japan. The Chinese side has welcomed the result of the case. Japan has asked for Liu to be extradited several times. The case of Liu involves relations between China, Japan and South Korea.