Prof. Alexander Alexiev, Bulgarian Director of the Confucius Institute in Sofia, told Xinhua he and prof. Gu Weiping, the new Chinese Director of this institute, have decided to introduce this gymnastics in Bulgaria..."Ideally, this gymnastics should be practiced twice a day, like a person brushing his teeth: the same way one has to do exercises in order to be healthy," Alexiev said.

After disagreement over how to deal with the issue at a summit in Phnom Penh on July 13, where ASEAN leaders failed to release a joint communique for the first time in the group's 45-year history, Indonesia’s foreign minister Marty Natalegawa has circulated a proposal for six principles on resolving disputes in the South China Sea. The principles emphasize implementation of a code of conduct, having self-restraint without the use of force, and the seeking of peaceful resolutions.

“Why do American Presidents not like Chinese?” This profound question came from the mouth of a 12 year old girl, Hannah Liu, in the Hunan province during a visit last summer. From public statements by Obama and Romney to dozens of political ads released during the 2010, 2011, and 2012 election cycles, China is receiving the message of U.S. public opinion loud and clear.

"We recognise that countries such as China, India and Brazil are gaining influence less because of the size of their armies than because of the growth of their economies," Clinton wrote in an oped in 'New Statesman' published yesterday.

Chinese president Hu Jintao on Thursday pledged African governments 20 billion in credit over the next three years and called for more China-Africa coordination international affairs to defend against the "bullying" of richer powers.

Recently, Israeli leaders have made successive high profile visits to China, while engaging in considerable public diplomacy efforts vis-à-vis the Chinese people. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even greeted the Chinese people in their native Mandarin during their New Year’s Festival.

As multicultural media in Canada grows, so is its use by emerging countries "as a way of influencing foreign public opinion, and as a part of their formal foreign policy apparatus," says one academic.

On Monday, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency fired back with a commentary condemning the “narrow nationalism and ignorance” displayed by U.S. politicians who oppose the Chinese-made uniforms and citing the importance of “the Olympic Spirit, which has nothing to do with politics” but is instead about “mutual understanding and fair play.”