An experimental attempt at some online diplomacy in China failed spectacularly last week when the US Embassy in Beijing's online question-and-answer session was abruptly disappeared.

The Irish Embassy in Beijing as well as Consuls General Therese Healy in Shanghai and Peter Ryan in Hong Kong, were working closely with Tourism Ireland to boost Ireland’s interests, Mr Kavanagh said. The Embassy in Beijing is in the process of appointing a press and public diplomacy attaché.

A revolution in consumer sentiment has spread across China. “Made in China” no longer inherently means cheap, inferior, and unfashionable. The respectable Chinese brand has emerged, and some have not only caught up with their more established foreign rivals but have actually started to surpass them in China and beyond.

Mexican officials, concerned about negative impressions of Mexico in the United States, have been rolling out a strategy to improve the image of their country and show how the relationship between the two nations has been of “mutual benefit," [...] The strategy includes “cultural diplomacy,” grass-roots activism and the deployment of Mexican community...

Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, the Minister of Trade and Industry, on Wednesday launched the 2016 Diplomatic Fair and reminded African countries on the need to partner diplomatic missions to develop their economies. [...] Speaking at the launch in Accra, Mr Spio-Garbrah said the idea of the Diplomatic Fair should also allow Ghanaian businesses to enquire from embassies that would participate about how they could assist the local businesses to operate in their countries.

Drafted by France to enhance the diplomatic communication and social media engagements of Uganda diplomats and foreign policy students, the French embassy has partnered with Victoria University to train diplomats in the country. The training, [...] will cover how social media is affecting diplomacy and also equip diplomats, mainly drawn from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the emerging digital concepts of diplomacy.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday said Japan will accept 150 Syrians over five years, treating them not as refugees but as exchange students. The initiative accompanies other efforts by Japan to help stabilize conflict-stricken Syria and its announcement comes days before Group of Seven leaders gather for a summit in Mie Prefecture.

States should use the increasing power of social media networks and work with them to achieve foreign policy objectives. [...] However, there is much more room for states to cooperate with social media rather than seeing it as an enemy. Instead, there are ample opportunities to use social media’s features, low costs and high effectiveness as tools to promote a state’s foreign policy objectives.