WASHINGTON – The ability to talk is not the same as the ability to communicate.

That was the advice from USC’s Nicholas Cull at a public diplomacy conference here.

Asked what advice he would give to the new Secretary of State, Cull said he would first ask a question: “What’s possible? Am I going to waste my time talking [about projects that can never see the light of day]?”

So what does that mean about the influence of Korean culture, the image of Korea and the popularity of Korean artists worldwide? Are the viral videos of PSY a testament to Korean soft power? Or reflective of the changing landscape of new media in which hundreds of millions of netizens decided to share this humorous music video by a ‘funny Asian guy’ with their friends?

On Monday, several Chinese State media commentaries issued to coincide with Mr. Li’s visit argued that public diplomacy was one of the biggest challenges facing the relationship, whether in dealing with the boundary dispute or addressing “ill-conceived preconceptions” in both countries.

Relations between Zimbabwe and Italy are set to further improve after the Italian Embassy in Harare launched introductory courses in the Italian language to interested Zimbabweans free of charge with a view to strengthening the growing business and cultural ties between the two countries.

The new Voice of America for young Chinese. Humor may not always translate well, but Jon Stewart is picking up a lot of fans in China. His gloves-off political satire is refreshing in a country where that's a rarity. Especially when it's directed against their own leaders.

Burma’s ethnic leaders have accused the United States of providing inadequate support for the Southeast Asian country’s peace process and are urging US President Barack Obama to stress the issue during his meeting with Burmese counterpart Thein Sein on Monday at the White House.

The 30 universities would enter student exchange partnerships with overseas colleges, and would conduct more than half of their lectures in English. The government would support another 100 universities to develop “special education programs for practical English”, the newspaper reported.

The newspaper acknowledged that China needed to do more to boost ties with India, including in terms of public diplomacy to improve perceptions. “Chinese people lack understanding and respect toward India. They tend to judge it according to ill-conceived preconceptions,” the editorial said.