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.

In a little noticed event on New Year’s Day, China inaugurated its first non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of soft power—China Public Diplomacy Association (CPDA). Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi attended and spoke at the unveiling ceremony for the group, which elected as its president Li Zhaoxing, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of China's National People's Congress.

Universal Studios Hollywood welcomes the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development's Culture Fair, a celebration of Chinese art and culture featuring three days of engaging activities and interactive displays exhibiting the historical city's most notable landmarks.

With the establishment of the China-ASEAN free trade area, communication in fields of personnel mobility, economic exchanges and cultural transmission between China and Southeast Asian countries are growing, even as disputes between the two remain. At this time, public diplomacy can play an important role in relations between China and Southeast Asian countries.

Last Saturday night, in a gala featuring 62 bands and singers, the Mandarin pop extravaganza "Chinese Music Chart Awards," often dubbed China's Grammys, took place - in slightly toned down form? in Taiwan's packed 15,000-seat Taipei Arena...The awards, announced unilaterally by China, were opposed by Taiwan's anti-unification opposition. They appear to be the latest in an unflagging string of stratagems by Beijing to waft soft-power blandishments across the 160-km Taiwan Strait.

China's leaders have tried honoring Ai Weiwei and bribing him with the offer of high positions. They have tried jailing him, fining him and clubbing him. In desperation, they have even begged him to behave — and nothing works... “China still needs help from the U.S.,” he said. “To insist on certain values, that is the role of the U.S. That is the most important product of American culture. When Hillary Clinton talks about Internet freedom, I think that's really beautiful.”