WASHINGTON – The personal touch was the focus of a USC public diplomacy forum here last week, the first in a series of 2012-2013 USC public diplomacy programs in the nation’s capital.

Even as Defence Minister Liang Guanglie is in India on a five-day visit this week to boost ties, the departure of another top People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General to Southeast Asia has been seen by analysts here as reflecting a new diplomatic push by the Chinese military to address regional concerns.

China and the United States are dialing down their rhetorical broadsides over greater U.S. military and economic influence in Asia ahead of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Beijing Tuesday...Cui said China is ready to work with other countries, but “it will not mean that China will have to change its foreign aid policy.”

A consequence of China’s rise as a global economic superpower has been the nation’s quest for resources, influence and riches in Africa, extracting minerals and food, building highways and schools, and selling cheap cellphones and pharmaceuticals. In July, President Hu Jintao pledged that China would lend $20 billion to African governments for agriculture and infrastructure.

The Strategic Summit will explore how new communications strategies are advancing commercial, cultural and nation branding for China. With engaging keynote speakers, case studies and interactive discussions, the Strategic Summit will build on a format used at the popular and highly-rated National Summit on Strategic Communications organized annually in Washington DC.

Japanese naval and air force commanders suspended trips to South Korea which had been scheduled to start on Monday as part of a military exchange program, the South's defense ministry said.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr today announced the Government had entered into a funding agreement with the Australian Broadcast Corporation (ABC) for the on-going delivery of a new-look Australia Network Service, combining television, radio and digital media.

The one-month festival, under the slogan 'Thinking, embodiment, modernisation', aims to attract youngsters and promote culture through stage shows and musical events. A large number of Bahrain intellectuals, musicians, writers and thinkers will take part in the opening ceremony at Block No 338 in Adliya at 7pm.