The Department of State is well on the way to meeting the President’s goals of increasing visitor visa processing capacity in China and Brazil by 40 percent in 2012...The State Department is committed to facilitating travel to the United States as part of broader “Jobs Diplomacy” goals. Visas for legitimate travelers are an important tool to help accelerate America’s economic revival.

President Ma Ying-jeou returns to Taiwan today after concluding his first Africa visit to three diplomatic allies, where he downgraded his state visits

At a time when all countries are paying attention to the development of their soft power, the film industry is regarded as an important cultural force. A successful film can have a worldwide impact, and even shape the image of a country. With this in mind, the Chinese government has put forward the goal of "going out" for Chinese film industry.

Australia’s advantages as the place for high quality education for Asians include being native speakers of the only pan-Asian language (English), and being acceptable to almost every country as a partner (or place to visit or study). Policy should build on these advantages to maintain a key place in the coming Asian mosaic.

Hollywood has increasingly been looking east, encouraged by the recent relaxation of the quota on foreign films allowed into China and the popularity of Hollywood-made but China-based international blockbusters such as Kung Fu Panda 2.

China has long kept up a barrier against foreign films — wary of insidious cultural influences while sheltering its own filmmakers. Officials last raised the annual cap on foreign movie imports as a condition of joining the WTO in 2001. The recent increased foreign movie quota is a belated response to a trade dispute the U.S. won nearly three years ago.

“I hope that through this, the first of our cultural dialogues with China, we will develop deeper ties across all the areas that interest us. China is a country with a vibrant cultural past and a growing economic future. There is much that we can learn from one another.”

These were the words of China’s highest ranking female politician on the second day of her trip. Madam Liu Yandong, the most powerful woman in the country’s ruling Communist Party, said she “especially” selected Northern Ireland as the first stop on her European tour. She was speaking as she opened the new Confucius Institute at the University of Ulster..