The slaying of terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden is expected to prompt the United States and China to review strategies to shore up their influence in Asia.

In 1961, a clutch of Chinese intellectuals gathered in Beijing to reminisce about a bearded poet from Bengal. They called Rabindranath Tagore a symbol of Hindi-Chini friendship and released ten translated tomes of his writing to mark his 100th birth anniversary.

U.S. President Barack Obama views China as a potential partner for an eventual human mission to Mars that would be difficult for any single nation to undertake, a senior White House official told lawmakers.

China’s quest for “soft power” in recent years is a direct consequence of its dramatic economic transformation over the last several decades. It is now an all-too-familiar story of how China is vigorously pursuing image-building efforts, from the global expansion of its media properties to the rapid growth of the Confucius Institutes. This has become particularly poignant at a time when, in stark contrast, the U.S. public diplomacy enterprise is facing shrinking budgets.

China’s quest for “soft power” in recent years is a direct consequence of its dramatic economic transformation over the last several decades. It is now an all-too-familiar story of how China is vigorously pursuing image-building efforts, from the global expansion of its media properties to the rapid growth of the Confucius Institutes.

Osama bin Laden was a powerful man, although he used it for vicious ends. He had hard power, the power of explosives and kamikaze strikes, but he also had soft power, the ability to turn young people into ruthless suicide bombers. The most fearful part of Bin Laden's strength is not his unpredictable way to launch terrorist attack, but the charisma that united anti-US forces from all over the world.

Last year more than 57 million Chinese traveled outside the country, making the Chinese now the world's fourth biggest spenders on tourism. My uneasiness stems from the fact that Chinese tourists of tomorrow are quickly becoming the successors to the "ugly Americans" of the last century.

APDS Blogger: Candace Burnham