The government needs to establish a body dedicated to cultural diplomacy using the country’s soft power, a group of foreign affairs experts said Wednesday calling for a related law

This was the latest in the U.S. ambassador’s activities in line with a “public diplomacy” mission and experts here claim that this is the direction that Korean diplomats should follow to help bolster the country’s diplomatic clout.

Just days after South Sudan achieved independence, the Chinese government has already established a vocational training program for welders in Juba. The establishment of a program to train welders suggests that China would like to reduce South Sudan's dependency on Sudanese infrastructure.

From Chinese phonetics to Chinese calligraphy, they will be teaching Mandarin and Chinese culture to public high school students as part of the education department's foreign language programme.

Like all cultural exports, Southeast Asian contemporary art provides Association of Southeast Asian Nation members with a soft power mechanism for expanding international influence. Yet neither ASEAN nor the majority of ASEAN countries demonstrate a serious commitment to advancing their national interests through contemporary art. Singapore represents the clear exception.

For four generations, the Soviets waged war on Buddhists, sometimes branding them “Japanese spies.” Now, 20 years after the collapse of communism, Buddhism is experiencing a massive revival in its historic areas. Although more Russians are Buddhists today than before the revolution, the Kremlin rejects their central demand.

The show is the brainchild of American rodeo promoter Richard Tucker and is considered an important component of the China-U.S. cultural exchange program for 2011. It is being jointly hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, China International Friendship Cities Association, the National Stadium, and... Less is Forever More.

On Friday at the Nixon Library in California, Braithwaite played against Liang Geliang, a Chinese Ping Pong player who was one of the Chinese team members in Japan for the historical table tennis competition in 1971. The two of them had a rematch 40 years later.