The "smile diplomacy" in Southeast Asia that China watchers used to describe has been reversed by Beijing - into a frown. In the eyes of more than a few East Asian foreign-policymakers, China has come close to deleting the first letter in the "charm offensive" that Joshua Kurlantzick surveyed in his 2007 book by that name.

China's Minister of Culture Cai Wu, who was on a first-ever visit to Taiwan in early September, said cultural exchanges should be immediately stepped up and the two sides should sign a cultural cooperation agreement.

Is it a commentary on China’s influence in the Middle East? Is it a critique of Hosni Mubarak’s rule in Egypt? Is it another example of the banality of violence in popular culture? Or is it perhaps a commentary on the bullying associated with “democratic” elections in authoritarian states? Choose for yourself.

At a sun-drenched park on Suva's waterfront, Fiji's rugby-loving military ruler Voreqe Bainimarama extols the benefits of tai chi as a master of the slow-motion Chinese martial art looks on. Bainimarama's conversion to tai chi's gentle techniques...symbolizes his quest since his 2006 coup to forge closer links with China.

During the past few years, Beijing has talked of projecting its soft power, its cultural influence. But that was either a feint or was destined to be a flop. Instead, China is now exercising its influence in the world of hard power, where it makes other countries behave in the way it wants -- and this is especially apparent in the seas surrounding China's 14,500km coastline.

To discern the depth of China-Singapore relations, here is a glimpse of the training Chinese leaders receive when in Singapore. Not-so-subtle public diplomacy from Singapore’s end; one couched in education, and arguably engrained in shaping favorable (maybe even preferential) worldview and paradigms.

The ROC government announced recently it will invest over NT$33 billion (US$1.05 billion) to help develop the cultural and creative industry of Taiwan. The announcement is a sign the government is beginning to take the industry more seriously, something further evidenced when the Cabinet-level Council for Cultural Affairs said it will hold a fair in November to help the nation’s cultural and creative industry break into the mainland Chinese market.

The Commonwealth Games in Delhi were billed to be a glorious statement of arrival, an opportunity for India to showcase its emergence as a global power, to even demonstrate to the world its ability to match, albeit on a smaller scale, the Chinese grandeur in hosting a global event.