In the latest triumph of Japanese soft power in its former colony, tens of thousands of Taiwanese have taken up planting cherry trees to revel in their colourful bloom for a few precious moments each spring - just like in Japan.

To be sure, Iran wields a considerable amount of what is known in foreign policy circles as "soft power" in Iraq. Iran sends millions of Shiite pilgrims to Iraq each year to visit the shrines of Hussein and others. Iran builds hospitals, and provides water and electricity.

According to the analysts and diplomats at the table, China's influence is based on cooperation, development and mutual interests. China's 'soft power' (a term that is not popular in Beijing) is its ability to let countries develop at their own rate.

To build itself into a cultural power, China faces the urgent task of safeguarding its "cultural security", strengthening its soft power and boosting the international influence of its culture.

America's objections to the Palestinian move ring hollow across much of the world, and especially the strategically vital Middle East region. Its withholding of UN payments in response is nothing short of a combination of the absurd and the vindictive. As former Senator Tim Wirth has pointed out this will be sapping to America's soft power capacity.

China hosted a high-profile International Taoism Forum here on Sunday in an effort to spread the religion's influence on the world stage.

The Turkish leadership’s anti-Israeli rhetoric has certainly helped boost Turkey’s popularity in the region. But this is not the only dynamic that explains Ankara’s growing soft power influence in the Middle East. Turkey’s economic success, liberal visa policies, and a desire to engage constructively with the main players in the region are also important factors.

China’s economic power over the US is now substantial, and will limit not only America’s influence in the financial markets, but also its capacity to use military power. If this forces America back towards what the international-relations scholar Joseph Nye calls “soft power and multilateral diplomacy,” it may well be a good thing. But such approaches are anathema to the US Republican Party...and they might unnerve the many Asians who are nervous at China’s growing military might.