Officials from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia working on higher education reform will exchange experiences with Malaysian counterparts at a 4-day workshop beginning today, supported by the World Bank and the British Council Malaysia.

WASHINGTON – The ability to talk is not the same as the ability to communicate.

That was the advice from USC’s Nicholas Cull at a public diplomacy conference here.

Asked what advice he would give to the new Secretary of State, Cull said he would first ask a question: “What’s possible? Am I going to waste my time talking [about projects that can never see the light of day]?”

On Monday, several Chinese State media commentaries issued to coincide with Mr. Li’s visit argued that public diplomacy was one of the biggest challenges facing the relationship, whether in dealing with the boundary dispute or addressing “ill-conceived preconceptions” in both countries.

Burma’s ethnic leaders have accused the United States of providing inadequate support for the Southeast Asian country’s peace process and are urging US President Barack Obama to stress the issue during his meeting with Burmese counterpart Thein Sein on Monday at the White House.

The 30 universities would enter student exchange partnerships with overseas colleges, and would conduct more than half of their lectures in English. The government would support another 100 universities to develop “special education programs for practical English”, the newspaper reported.

The newspaper acknowledged that China needed to do more to boost ties with India, including in terms of public diplomacy to improve perceptions. “Chinese people lack understanding and respect toward India. They tend to judge it according to ill-conceived preconceptions,” the editorial said.

President Barack Obama will meet with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China on June 7-8 at the estate of Walter and Leonore Annenberg, who were known around the globe for the political dignitaries they hosted behind the pink walled enclave in Rancho Mirage.

Since both Washington and Tokyo agree that increasing the number of exchange students in both countries is important to bolstering bilateral ties, Roos emphasized that providing incentives will be key to encouraging them to study abroad.