As Canada reduces cultural staff and closes libraries and offices, it's important to remember that soft power is by no means inferior to commercial, political, or military facets.

While each Confucius Institute is slightly different, most help promote Chinese language through instructional courses and classroom programs while also helping educate people about Chinese culture. “I think any promotion of Chinese language and culture and awareness among the public obviously helps people in the United States to understand a globalized world,” Cai said.

Courtesy of Bruce Gregory, here is the latest update on resources that may be of general interest for teachers, students, and practitioners of public diplomacy and related courses and activities. Suggestions for future updates are welcome.

The University Student Arts and Cultural Exchange Performance will include vocal, instrumental and dance performances from a number of different minority cultural traditions in China...A tap dance will highlight the American dance tradition.

The strength of Taiwan's soft power lies in the country's ability to combine both these aspects, Lung said during a live interview on Voice of America (VOA), part of the itinerary of a two-week tour of the United States, her first visit to the U.S. since assuming the post in February.

Kazuo Korenaga, executive director of the Japan-Korea Economic Association in Tokyo, a group that seeks to promote business and cultural exchange between the two countries, said that, “Politics should be politics, the economy should be the economy. Economic sectors, including the treatment of South Korean stars in the Korean boom, should not be influenced by this issue.”

The venue was the United Nations, and the artwork—the winning submissions displayed by secondary school students of T&T, was entitled A Showcase of Cultural Diplomacy...Ambassador Eden Charles praised the initiative as “innovative” and “a reminder of the importance of culture in bridging gaps,” between nations.

Taiwan’s cultural power lies in its incorporation of features of Chinese tradition and modern Western society, ROC Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai said. Today’s Taiwan has moderated the authoritarian part of Chinese culture through maintenance of traditional gentleness and generosity, along with the assimilation of an open, law-abiding civil society.