The European charm offensive of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has been conducted with characteristic Chinese thoughtfulness and efficiency...But the fact remains that China may well be influencing people, and it has a highly impressive record of economic management to flaunt, but it is not exactly winning friends.

...I think it's a very interesting question because the Chinese have opened these organizations called Confucius Institutes... And part of the agenda of the Confucius Institute is to push the learning of Chinese language. They have seen - and not unrelated to our previous questions - they have seen their development, especially their military growth, is scaring people.

The Confucius Institute of the Autonomous University of Yucatan, the only test center in northeast Mexico, has held the HSK for three times since the first test in January 2010. Some 45 candidates took the test Saturday at three different levels.

With the establishment of its first academic research center on public diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University and a well-publicized International Forum on Public Diplomacy in 2010, China has been taking some major steps forward as it tries to, in Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying’s words, “effectively present its image to other countries” and overcome a lack of experience “in handling relations with the media and the public in foreign countries”.  T

Whether or not Shakespeare fits the political message Beijing wants to deliver, a viewing of “Hamlet” is in keeping with the populist brand of public diplomacy favored by Mr. Wen, who has often added cultural events to his visits abroad.

Some politicians, scholars and officials wishfully claim that co-operative activities such as ship visits, combined disaster-relief exercises or partnership against piracy will translate into wider strategic trust. But there is little sign this is happening.

The university is the largest and oldest institution of higher learning in Hungary. It now serves as a key place for teaching Chinese language. Hungarian students from the university's Confucius Institute, a Chinese-Hungarian bilingual school and a martial art teaching center, performed Chinese folk songs and Tai Ji.

The comprehensive gag on Ai, who is not allowed to post anything on Twitter or accept interviews for a year, raises questions about the Chinese government's repeated claims that his was purely an economic case.