TAIPEI --- While the latest aircraft carrier movements and military maneuvers here are chronicled closely in U.S. media, significant public diplomacy initiatives go largely unreported. This past week provided a prime example:

Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong’s week-long visit to Taipei has been front-page news in this region, in newspapers from Korea to Singapore. For his first-ever visit, the mayor led a 500-person delegation – yes, five hundred people – including party officials, business leaders and Chinese celebrities.

The British Museum’s “Hajj: Journey to the heart of Islam“ is the first major exhibition ever to focus on the Hajj. Aiming to draw crowds both Muslim and non-Muslim, the exhibition features objects from a number of different countries, as well as newly commissioned contemporary art works, to highlight the importance and relevance of the ancient tradition throughout history.

Iranians are heralding the country’s first Oscar win as the best public diplomacy for the Islamic Republic in many years. “Cinema,” the ex-president wrote to Farhadi in a public letter, “helps humanity to overcome aggression [and to be] able to bring hearts closer to each other.”

My own university has made an intentional effort to become home to some 8,000 international students...Such global diversity offers a meaningful learning laboratory not just for domestic students, but for international students who otherwise might be tempted to attend a relatively insulated American franchise in their home nation.

China’s new cross-strait action plan includes inviting Taiwanese to engage in “long stay” visits in China’s first-tier cities, living with selected Chinese families in an attempt to forge grassroots friendships. The Chinese authorities will also continue to encourage Taiwanese to study and work in China.

The successes chalked up by Lung transformed Taipei into a world-class city of culture, explaining why she is tipped to repeat this feat on a national scale and take Taiwan’s soft power to the next level.

By the advent of the Cold War, dancers were being sent abroad and used as cultural ambassadors around the world to promote American values. In 1941, the government...sent dancers around South America to counteract anti-American sentiment.