Panama’s Chinese community is celebrating Monday’s announcement of establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. [...] In Panama City this week, members of the Fa Yen community – the largest of its kind in Panama, representing Panamanian descendants from the Chinese province of Guangdong, gathered for a type of celebration usually reserved for big holidays, like the Chinese New Year. But this is June. People like lawyer Luisa Lam Siu said they were very happy that the government announced it had severed diplomatic ties with Taipei in exchange for Beijing.

Qatar has said citizens of the nations that have cut ties with the emirate will be allowed to stay in the country despite measures against its own nationals. A statement carried on state media said Doha would "not take any measures against residents of Qatar who hold the nationalities of countries that severed diplomatic ties or lowered diplomatic representations with the state of Qatar, on the back of hostile and tendentious campaigns against the country".

Brexit finally gets underway this week. So now is the time for the United Kingdom to make equal haste with rejuvenating its diplomatic and trade ties in the world, beginning with Turkey. For years the potential of the UK’s ties with Turkey has been smothered by the sweaty, asphyxiating blanket of the EU’s accession talks with Ankara. No one in their right mind, on either side of the Bosphorus, believed in earnest that Turkey would join the EU in their lifetime. ​

In a Johannesburg concert venue that usually hosts pop stars, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi had the crowd on their feet. Modi is in South Africa as part of a tour of southern and east Africa aimed at strengthening diplomatic and economic ties. [...] This human connection is the foundation in Modi’s plans to create a stronger presence in Africa, as the country tries to match China. India’s trade with Africa has grown from $1 billion in 1995, to $35 billion in 2008, rising to roughly $70 billion last year.

Digital diplomacy is therefore part of the state’s attempt to remain relevant and to assert power in the digital space. And while the goals of any one initiative might be lauded (as this one can), we need to view and ultimately assess it as only one component of a wider suite of digital foreign policy actions. Taken as a whole, digital foreign policy is fraught with challenges and hypocrisies.

South Korean embassy in Dhaka is going to organise a music concert at Shah Amanat Auditorium in Chittagong on Saturday, ending three days of celebration to mark 41 years of diplomatic ties.