It looks great on paper. But there is no transparency. There are no benchmarks and no opportunities for public input or oversight...The talks are used as a public relations exercise that allow the EU to isolate human rights issues from other top-level negotiations.

The rise of China in the last two decades has been phenomenal in the fields of economics, military power and inclusive growth. To address negative concerns about this rise in the West, China has been pursuing its soft power options through the medium of culture, especially movies, sports, arts and music.It has very effectively used its soft power in the same way the US did during the Cold War era. The promotion of soft power helps in two ways; one is in maintaining China’s peaceful rise and the other in helping it gain international appeal.

... Filipinos must exercise public diplomacy which would help show “that there’s a bully in the neighborhood who is misbehaving.” A boycott of China-made products, voicing opinions, making speeches and talking in local and international forums about the ongoing issue are components of public diplomacy intended to hit where China will hurt the most...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says she is concerned by Chinese aid and investment policies in Africa. "We are...concerned that China's foreign assistance and investment practices in Africa have not always been consistent with generally accepted international norms of transparency and good governance...,” she said.

Ten terracotta statues (picture) have been shipped to Singapore for their first exhibition in South-east Asia, at the Asian Civilisation Museum. Together with about 100 artefacts from China's Qin and Han dynasties, the statues were shipped, over land and by air, from the Chinese city of Xi'an. The "Terracotta Warriors: The First Emperor and His Legacy" exhibition will run from June 24 to Oct 16.

The Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-city is the second major government project between China and Singapore. Its goal is to develop a livable and efficient city in an ecologically sound and environmentally sustainable way. Another project in the pipeline is the development of a low-carbon living laboratory which is expected to appeal to Singapore companies keen to invest in the area.

The number of people using Facebook during May fell in the US, UK, Canada, Norway and Russia, according to new data. The slowing growth in user numbers may indicate that Facebook has hit the limits of expansion in the countries where it was first successful – and perhaps even that some early adopters from those countries have stopped using it.

Rupert Murdoch has warned China that it will encourage piracy and limit opportunities for its own booming movie market if it does not open up to foreign films, in the latest sign of western media owners' frustrations with Chinese restrictions.