Speaking during his formal oath-taking ceremony on Wednesday, Moon pledged to work for peace on the Korean Peninsula amid growing worry over the North's expanding nuclear weapons and missiles programme. "I am willing to go anywhere for the peace of the Korean Peninsula," Moon said. "If needed, I will fly immediately to Washington. I will go to Beijing and I will go to Tokyo. If the conditions shape up, I will go to Pyongyang."

The Chinese Embassy held a cultural show (Chinese cuisine-class), popularizing authentic Chinese food to promote bonds of friendship between the two countries. Chinese culinary art was displayed on the occasion. It was the part cultural diplomacy, promoting people-to-people’s contacts, said Mrs. Diana Bao, wife of Chinese ambassador while speaking at the show as a chief guest. 

Concerns are growing the diplomatic strains may spill over into sociocultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries despite their deepening economic interdependence. [...] But in the eyes of Park Euna, ambassador for public diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry, now is time for Seoul to step up efforts to reach out to citizens of not only China but other countries around the world, helping promote their understanding of and eventually reach its foreign policy goals.

International politics surrounding Taiwan is quietly changing thanks to a rejuvenation in Japan–Taiwanese relations. But revitalised bilateral ties are likely to spell trouble for already rocky Sino–Japan relations. [...] The Tsai Ing-wen administration has been especially eager to expand such ties with Japan because of its anxiety over Taiwan’s economic dependence on mainland China.

Most of these aid projects were carried out through a competitive bidding system open to eligible enterprises and there was little space for Chinese NGOs to participate. "Most of these foreign aid projects are large engineering projects, and the design of the bidding system leaves no space for NGOs to take part," Ji Lin, managing secretary at Global Environmental Institute, told the Global Times.  

Philibert Browne, editor of Liberia’s Hot Pepper newspaper, says China is winning admiration. In Liberia, it has built roads — ones of not obviously inferior quality — and a spanking new campus at the University of Liberia, replete with friendship tower and Chinese-style gate. “You can see what they are spending their money on but you can’t see what the Americans are spending on,” Mr Browne says. “You don’t put capacity building on your meal table. Slowly but surely, the Chinese are winning in Africa.”

Addressing a session titled ‘Diplomacy and the Power of Communication’ on the second and final day of the Arab Media Forum 2017, Buangan said diplomacy and conversation are powerful tools for creating concrete and tangible results in developing mutual understanding among people and governments. Talking about new developments in the media, Buangan said media has evolved and became more global in engagement with the society.