Britain's Prince William published a video message on Wednesday to send his good wishes for the Chinese New Year ahead of his first visit to China.

Neither the people behind A Taste of China nor those at Light Chaser are intentionally pushing political agendas.  That is what makes this a genuinely new era in Chinese propaganda. These projects have their own voice, yet they do propagate a preferred narrative, one of a problem-free Chinese culture. 

After capturing the hearts of Vietnamese audiences, South Korea continued to conquer the broader Vietnamese market. As of December 2014, South Korea has been Vietnam’s biggest investor, with US$37.23 billion of foreign direct investment in 4,110 projects throughout the country. 

Since 2010, the country's Ministry of Culture has poured manpower into organizing myriad Chinese New Year events worldwide, in partnership with overseas business entities and cultural organizations.

Overseas participants at the ongoing New Delhi World Book Fair are seeking to turn a new page beyond conventional agenda of strengthening business ties with India and striving to enhance cultural relations. 

Two events last week suggested the conflicting currents in Iran. The country marked the anniversary of its revolution last Wednesday with the usual slogan, "Death to America." The following day, Iran opened an international tourism exhibition with a different slogan: "You are invited."

The 2014 CPD Annual Review demonstrates that although public diplomacy is present in every region of the world, it is predominantly in the northern hemisphere. North America is ranked the most active region in public diplomacy, with the United States contributing the most. Asia (Asia Pacific, Southeast Asia and Central Asia combined) comes in second, and Europe is third, with almost the same presence as Asia. As expected, China, Japan, and South Korea take the lead as the major actors in Asia Pacific. India is also very active in PD in South Asia.

As part of the CPD Annual Review process, in January we highlighted some of the year’s key public diplomacy moments in our Top 10 List of the most notable stories from 2014.