North Korea's new young leader must transform his impoverished country for the better or face a backlash from its oppressed people, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Thursday.

The famous Chinese artist and dissident Ai Weiwei once wrote in a blog, "To express yourself needs a reason, but expressing yourself is a reason." In the highly censored world of Chinese media, this sums up the growing consensus within that country -- and around the world -- that the freedom of expression and dissent is important as an ends, and not just a means.

Growing support is evident for the concurrent usage of both “East Sea” and “Sea of Japan” to refer to the body of water located between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago.

The term "Cool Japan" was a localized take on the UK's "Cool Britannia" idea of the 1990s. The idea of "Cool Japan" was centered on the country's position as a rising soft power superpower. Soft power is the culture influence countries have, while hard power is the influence from political, military, or economic power.

Recognised by the Chinese as a symbol of world peace, the panda represents the Yin and Yang concept and is also China's longest serving ambassador when presented as a gift to Japan during the Tang Dynasty around 685 AD.

The issue in question was the Chinese government-sponsored Confucius Institutes hosted by American universities. China has 70 such institution in the United States, more than any other country in the world. The U.S., meanwhile, has all of five America Centers in China.