As crowds gathered on Nov. 4, 1972, to catch a glimpse of two adorably rare creatures making their debut at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo, an orangutan named Miyo unfurled a welcome banner. A curtain was then pulled aside to reveal two anxious giant pandas — Kang Kang and Lan Lan — and Japan fell head over heels in love, both with the bears and what they represented: Sino-Japanese friendship.

One concerning aspect of China’s rising prominence is its troublesome relations with its neighbours. It has fought both real and legal battles on territorial and ideological grounds on several fronts including in India, Vietnam and on the Korean peninsula in the past [...] But one break in this pattern is the country’s long-standing relationship with Nepal.

South Korea and China have agreed to carry out 69 cultural projects this year to build stronger ties between their people, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said Friday. [...] The projects include various academic seminars, youth exchange programs, speech contests and concerts, as well as a joint study of pandas.

“Through these working holiday agreements, the government hopes to enhance our young people’s global competence, thereby boosting the nation’s competitiveness, as well as increase the self-reliance of Taiwan’s youth,” says Andrew Lee, deputy director-general of MOFA’s Public Diplomacy Coordination Council.

China’s “One Belt One Road” initiative clearly reads as an audacious vision for transforming the political and economic landscapes of Eurasia and Africa over the coming decades via a network of infrastructure partnerships across the energy, telecommunications, logistics, law, IT, and transportation sectors. 

The first overseas Confucius Institute (CI) was set up in South Korea in 2004. It is a non-profit educational organisation dedicated to the promotion of the Chinese language (Mandarin) and culture. And because their modus operandi is to operate within learning institutions, there are continued criticisms from encroaching on academic freedom to even espionage.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a ¥600 million grant-in-aid pledge to Zimbabwe on Monday to help bring more Japanese companies back to the former agricultural powerhouse amid an aggressive foray by China. [...] also said Japan would maintain close consultation with Zimbabwe to counter the severe food shortages there.

In some respects the editorial direction of China’s international media reporting can be seen as an extension of the nation’s diplomacy. While the first principal of diplomacy is that it is the pursuit of national interests, one of the foundations of successfully diplomacy is promoting common interests.