...state media groups push aggressively into overseas territories, buying or opening radio stations and television channels as Beijing develops its "soft power" policy. ... these foreign ventures are often not huge revenue generators, continuing the decades-long tradition in which party mouthpieces consume government funds in return for projecting a positive image of China and its rulers.

Cultural exchanges between China and Russia have reached an unprecedented height in recent years," said Yang Song, Europe and Asia division chief of the Liaison Office of the Ministry of Culture...."A series of intercultural events have greatly helped promote mutual understanding, and bring Chinese and Russians closer.

I have spent some time as of late picking through the now infamous train wreck that was the American pavilion at Shanghai. Cynthia Schneider offers her opinion on what went wrong here. Here’s my take:

Taiwan, a small island the size of Belgium with a population of some 23 million, is the mother of all status quo powers. If ever there was a country more interested in preserving the conditions of the here and now, it is this one.

FOR a lesson in the use of ‘soft power’, turn to Beijing. China has made culture and people-to-people contacts an essential cornerstone of its global diplomacy. The key focus so far has been on countries in the neighbourhood, with China working hard to defuse perceptions that it seeks to dominate the rest of Asia. The rest of the world is now also getting a taste of China’s cultural diplomacy.

In the war of ideas between freedom and authoritarianism, the Voice of America (VOA) broadcast program is losing to the voice of communist China – not because Beijing’s message is better but because its strategic vision and will to win surpass Washington’s.

Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Tara Sonenshine will travel to Beijing May 3-4 to serve as co-coordinator of the third annual U.S.-China Consultation on People-to-People Exchange (CPE) with Chinese Vice Minister of Education Hao Ping.

This is the America that draws ever-growing numbers of Chinese students, who then take home a view of the United States that refutes the stereotypes.Such an exercise of informal diplomacy on a grand scale cannot help but change U.S.-China relations. It may even change the world.