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.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said they wanted to open a new field in diplomacy called "Science Diplomacy"...We decided to establish "Science Diplomacy" to improve Turkey's scientific image and bring high technology to Turkey in a shorter period of time, Davutoglu stressed.

As a spat between Beijing and Tokyo rumbles on, China on Wednesday opted for a bit of panda diplomacy, naming a Japanese woman as one of six winners of a contest to care for the endangered animals.

Hundreds of visitors came to the exhibition from where they not only had a brief knowledge of the history of the diplomatic relationship between China and Bangladesh, but also felt the confidence that China and Bangladesh relations will have a bright future.