A conference on public diplomacy has heard that Australia needs to do more to promote an international image that moves beyond narrow stereotypes. Opposition senator Russell Trood says the Department of Foreign Affairs lacks a coherent strategy to influence how Australia's seen by the rest of the world.

Australia will launch a new initiative to attract more visitors from China, as tourists from the U.S. and Japan stay put in the face of uncertain economies and the strong Aussie dollar. The campaign will focus on collecting research on China's emerging middle class and its main cities.

There are an estimated 6000 languages in active use across the world. However, half of them have fewer than about 3,000 speakers. Experts predict that half of all languages spoken today will go extinct within the next 50 to 150 years. Approximately 60 to 80 per cent of all languages are endangered.

To find a nation’s identity, look no further than its historical relics and cultural heritage. For 50 years, Korea’s Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) has preserved and maintained the country’s cultural remains. And at the core of the foundation was Jung Jae-hoon, a pioneering director who witnessed some of Korea’s most important cultural discoveries.

I would introduce another working definition that culture is observable worship or work. It is the sum total of the core beliefs expressed through action of one’s perception of reality... Using the above as a platform, the nearly missed opportunity of cultural exchange of the African reality this year is plausibly understandable.

CPD Blog Contributor and MPD Alumnus (2010) Paul Rockower was recently quoted in The Indianapolis Star on Thai gastrodiplomacy.

With health authorities in mainland China fighting a war on food safety violators, a food scandal across the Taiwan Strait has claimed an iconic victim: the night market. Among the many contentious markers of “true” Taiwanese-ness, a fondness for night markets is that rare characteristic that unifies nearly all the island’s residents.

The Thai government has been educating diners about its country's cuisine for years. In fact, an initiative called Global Thai was launched in 2002 to encourage an appreciation for Thai cuisine around the world.