corporate diplomacy

It has been a shock for Baidu whose fortunes up until now had been very different. Together with the likes of Alibaba, Tencent, Suning, Baidu was supposed to be a role model business in what President Xi Jinping called the Chinese dream. [...] It is private sector internet entrepreneurs who project internationally China’s soft power, which remains disproportionately small compared to the size of its economy and military might.

"Our approach … is to use the ‘soft power’ of business," he says. "These businesses have influence as powerful economic actors and in countries in Africa and Southeast Asia; they are often very important to the local economy. [...] Soft power is one option, but companies could potentially use their economic clout by threatening to pull out of a country. 

Businesses have been warned that in order to thrive in a low-carbon future they must first "navigate a mosaic of global realities", that has seen water scarcity hit a variety of regions and threaten to destabilise infrastructure [...] that is the warning from the third annual Earth Security Index (ESI 2016) – released on behalf of the Earth Security Group - The report warns that businesses must align themselves to societal priorities in the countries that they operate as part of a new “business diplomacy for sustainable development”.

The Chinese government is keen to build up its “soft power” to compete against the globally dominant cultural exports of the US. But there’s just one problem. After years of trying, China has yet to develop its own popular versions of Mickey Mouse, the Marvel Comics heroes and the other globally-known characters and products that allow Disney to market “Disneyland” as an immersive, universal experience.

President Park Geun-hye will become the first South Korean president to visit Iran as she departs for Tehran on Sunday morning. [...] As is customary now, President Park will also encourage Korean nationals living in Iran and attend a cultural exchange event showcasing Korea and Iran's traditional assets...

As part of its marketing, Sodastream created a campaign to show the cooperation between Arabs and Jews in the factory. In its initial phase, the company posted several untranslated versions to Facebook. But after requests from the Swedish and Jordanian embassies – which wanted to use it for their public diplomacy efforts – Sodastream translated the clips to English and Arabic and paid for their promotion.

Liu Xi, Chairman of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association at Harvard Kennedy School, and chief organizer of the China trek project, says the trip to China will bring a better understanding between the Chinese and the American people in the near future.

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