Music is a universal language and it is one of the ways to learn about another culture. To spread the teaching of Chinese music to the world, the Confucius Institute has set up the first Music Confucius Institute in Copenhagen.

Japan was once an Asian bowling powerhouse, but its reputation has declined in recent times. So it's now looking to strike up a partnership with Singapore to lift the sport, especially at the junior level. Twelve Japanese students, age between 12 and 17 years old, arrived in Singapore as part of a Japan International Exchange programme.

From Dec 2 to 4, Wudang Mountain Tourism Area held a Wudang photography and calligraphy exhibition in Erfurt, Germany. The exhibition served as a prelude to the Sino-German culture exchange in Hubei province. This year is the 40th anniversary of China-German diplomatic ties. Hubei province organized a delegation to go to Germany and preside over the Hubei Culture Exhibition Week.

Regimes like Putin's can't survive on repression alone. To be stable and successful, they also need, for lack of a better term, soft power -- the ability to win not just the public's obedience, but also its consent; to rule not just through fear, but also through inspiration. During Putin's first stint as president, from 2000-2008, the Kremlin excelled at this. It doesn't anymore.

Part of American Music Abroad, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs announced that Kensington, Maryland-based folk group Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, with Barbara Lamb, will tour Asia and the Pacific Islands. The trio will tour China Dec. 30 - Jan. 6, Malaysia Jan. 7-17, Vanuatu Jan.18-23 and Papua New Guinea January 23-27. Tour activities will include public concerts, lectures, demonstrations, workshops, media outreach, and collaborations with local musicians.

India and Pakistan have used "cricket diplomacy" to improve relations in the past, and over the next little while they will do it again. Pakistan's national cricket team is in India for the first series of games between the two countries in five years. The matches will take place from Dec. 25 to Jan. 6. For this very reason, the Indian government has issued a number of visas to Pakistan cricket fans, allowing them to enjoy the matches live.

Taiwan is “the only force on Earth that may have an impact on the future political development of China,” said Steven S.F. Chen, formerly the island’s envoy to the United States and now an adviser to its president. “Not, I’m afraid to say, the United States, not Japan, not any another country. Only Taiwan.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now tweeting in Arabic on a new Twitter account opened in mid-December. The development caught the attention of the Saudi Internet news service, Al Arabiya, which reported this week that Netanyahu’s Twitter account has drawn new followers from Iraq, Egypt and Lebanon, currently numbering 671 followers.