...Deng Xiaoping met Henry Kissinger... and asked him: "Doctor, are you familiar with Confucius?" In uncharacteristic modesty, Kissinger said: "Not in detail". Although the Chinese are nowadays trying to return to their traditional culture and values to boost their soft power and political influence, I am afraid most of them have to echo Kissinger's answer, "not in detail", when prompted with the same question.

The Beijing-backed Confucius Institutes, which promote Chinese culture internationally, have been no stranger to controversy since their launch in 2004. Critics have charged they are platforms for Chinese espionage and propaganda—a salacious if still unsubstantiated charge

In the mass media and the blogosphere,both inside and outside China,commentators have been discussing the differences between the cultural segments of the Beijing and London ceremonies as representative of two opposed political systems.