US public diplomacy has morphed the Liu case out of the soft power human rights community into the hard power arena of economic warfare designed to pressure Beijing to devalue the Yuan and give Democrats badly needed credibility, votes and dollars in the run up to US midterm elections.

A group of 1,000 Japanese youngsters will be visiting the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai from Oct 27 to 30, another step toward restoring soured bilateral relations. Originally scheduled on Sept 21, the trip had to be postponed due to the rift between the two countries caused by a boat collision and consequent diplomatic rows.

The Chinese government continued its vilification campaign against the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to a jailed dissident, Liu Xiaobo, by canceling another meeting with Norwegian officials and lambasting the award as an affront to the Chinese people and a ploy to try to change the country’s political system.

A Sino-Italian coproduction of Luigi Pirandello's drama "Six Characters in Search of an Author" was performed here from Thursday to Sunday, paving the way for a reinforced partnership with a view to the Milan Expo 2015.

Two Chinese firms that have benefitted from this overseas interest in Chinese gardens are the Suzhou Institute of Landscape Architectural Design and the Suzhou Garden Development Company. Both firms are owned by Landscape Architecture Corporation of China, which is part of the Ministry of Construction.

Imperial edicts in medieval China typically ended by exhorting lowly subjects to “tremble and obey”; from all available evidence, the edicts had just the desired effect.In the modern era, however, China’s muscular assertion of its recently acquired economic and political might to get the rest of the world to “tremble and obey” may have run its course and is beginning to face a global pushback.

The inaugural Chinese Film and Cultural Festival is meant to improve communication and understanding between China and the U.S. through cultural and artistic exchange.

Even as the political relationship between New Delhi and Beijing has gone through ups and downs this year, the Indian government has quietly launched a broad campaign to win hearts and minds in China.