What can the international community do to thwart China’s unilateral attempts at territorial expansion? Lodging protests against the construction of military installations on artificial islands has not been very effective to date. But more can probably be done to prevent China from reclaiming any more reefs and building airfields on them. Greater US engagement would significantly facilitate such efforts, and Japan, too, has an important role to play.

When Starbucks first opened in China in 1999, the company's future seem doomed in a country that has thousands of years of tea-drinking history. However, in just 17 years, Starbucks changed and revolutionized the way the Chinese view and drink coffee. […]It's been reported that Starbucks intends to double its locations in the country by 2019.

Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group has acquired Legendary Entertainment, the Hollywood production company behind “The Dark Knight,” “Jurassic World” and “Godzilla” movies. […] The deal represents the largest acquisition to date of a U.S. production company by a Chinese firm and the latest sign of the deepening ties between Hollywood and the world's most populous country.

About halfway through this five-act extravaganza there’s a tableau of a theatre audience: bejeweled matrons in brocade gowns [...] creaky mandarins in quilted robes. Just the sort of throng that might have greeted the house-counting eyes of a 1920’s Peking Opera actor onstage. [...] The Chinese government spent a lot of pre-devaluation RMB to buy this crowd.

To understand soft power with Chinese characteristics, we must think of two key concepts in international relations of the Asian giant – peaceful development and a harmonious world. [...] Development as a clear gamble to consolidate its role of a power without threatening the role of any other, especially of United States, in a logic of non-confrontation, although it will extend its influence in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 

Italy has called on China to contribute more to the fight against terrorism and help stabilise the Middle East and Northern Africa, as the world’s number two economy shows an increasing interest and exposure in the region, its ambassador to Beijing says.

The Philippines' decision to join China's multilateral development bank marks Manila's renewed effort to befriend Beijing via “economic diplomacy” despite the South China Sea dispute, an analyst said.