These days we often hear international traders referring to the delta as China's "workshop to the world". This year, 20 years later, China's newly elected general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, Xi Jinping, chose Guangdong and the delta as his first inspection tour destination. He seemed determined to emphasise continuity in China's opening up and reform policy, and its modernisation and innovation drive.

This past Thanksgiving break, Ben Hubley ’15 traveled to China to compete in the 5th Chinese Bridge Competition, a Chinese proficiency contest for foreign high school students, held in Kunming City. Out of 104 contestants from 45 countries between the ages of 15 and 20, Hubley placed third in the individual competition after a student from Singapore placed first and a student from Russia placed second.

The India-China “battle for Buddha” has now reached Myanmar, with New Delhi sponsoring an International Conference on Buddhist Cultural Heritage in Yangon over the weekend, while Beijing has since last year been trying to leverage the legacy of “Shakya Muni” to connect with the religious majority in its south-western neighbour.

A mixture of native Chinese and Americans, we hope to accomplish an ambitious set of goals: to gain an understanding of how public diplomacy is thought about and engaged in academic contexts as well as how it is innovatively used in practice—through film, at airports, over the Internet, in media, and by corporations.

APDS Blogger: Sarah Myers

In January 2013, a group of nine Masters’ of Public Diplomacy students will embark on a trip to Beijing, China. A mixture of native Chinese and Americans, we hope to accomplish an ambitious set of goals: to gain an understanding of how public diplomacy is thought about and engaged in academic contexts as well as how it is innovatively used in practice—through film, at airports, over the Internet, in media, and by corporations.

Concern lingers within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations that China could use its widening trade and investment ties as a political tool, and Japan needs to regain its soft power through more non-economic engagement with the region, experts from Southeast Asia said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.