Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan ordered his cabinet to avoid the controversial Yasukuni Shrine on the Aug. 15 anniversary of the end of WWII. It underscores his shift toward improving relations with Asian neighbors.

China, driven by a desire for prestige and its own Nobel laureates, could soon lead the world in scientific research.

More than 10 Chinese films, including the former highest-grossing "The Founding of a Republic," will be screened at the Second China Image Film Festival, UK's only non-profit Chinese film festival and largest Chinese film festival in Europe, from Oct. 3 to 10.

Recently, an official Chinese paper, the International Herald Leader, carried a report on “sharpening contradictions” in various areas of Chinese society, including standards of living and culture. The report lists 50 types of what it calls “seriously strange phenomena.”

China's rising influence, particularly its robust economic growth in the past three decades, has created a view among some that it is no longer a developing country.

India’s summer of dance diplomacy across China ended on Sunday with the last in a series of Bollywood dance shows. Bollywood can be the biggest cultural icebreaker for India in China, but the industry’s top stars and dance groups...were not part of the ongoing India festival to celebrate 60 years of diplomatic ties with China.

The country that gave the world table tennis is aiming to be one of the sport's superpowers...In London, local table tennis promoters are making fresh attempts to bring this overlooked sport back into the mainstream.

As part of its global pursuit of soft power, South Korea presents its country brand at Shanghai Expo by employing the instrument of pop culture.