indonesia
Looking for all things soft power? Check out our roundup of content related to this important area of public diplomacy.
Two giant pandas from China arrived in Indonesia on Thursday in an act of "panda diplomacy" aimed at celebrating 60 years of bilateral ties. Cai Tao and Hu Chun, both aged seven, arrived from Sichuan province and will be housed at a safari zoo in Bogor, a city near the capital Jakarta. The pandas were lent by Beijing to mark the diplomatic anniversary despite recent tensions between the nations, with a number of clashes between Chinese and Indonesian vessels in the South China Sea.
Auckland University of Technology has launched a “first of its kind” Indonesia Centre in a cultural diplomacy initiative. “The centre is an acknowledgement of the strong relationship enjoyed between the government of Indonesia and AUT, and the acknowledgement of both parties to strengthen that relationship,” AUT’s Vice-Chancellor Derek McCormack said.
The Indonesian province of East Kalimantan has a history of disasters, including severe storms, floods, landslides and fires. [...] Since 2015, Australian volunteers have been working with BPBD East Kalimantan to strengthen their community-based disaster risk reduction program.
he Embassy of Vietnam in Indonesia introduced the country’s signature Nem (spring roll) at the ASEAN cuisine festival in Jakarta, Indonesia, on August 5. [...] The ASEAN nations have rich culture and cuisine, he said, adding that promotion of food identity of each nation is a diplomatic channel.
Indonesia and New Zealand agreed on Wednesday to improve coordination in combating terrorism through information exchange and preventive measures. [...] BNPT chief Comr. Gen. Suhardi Alius and New Zealand's assistant commissioner for international and national security, Michael Pannet, also discussed deradicalization programs, with both countries agreeing to exercise a soft-power approach as a means of prevention, particularly toward families and communities with a history of radicalism to alter their orientation and offer counternarratives.