Over the past two years, the Obama administration has focused greater diplomatic attention and military resources on East Asia as part of a policy described as a "pivot" or "rebalancing." While American leaders are loath to admit it publicly, this is a response to China's growing influence, particularly Beijing's territorial claims around its borders.

His Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has indicated there might be a review of the decision in 1993 to apologise for direct Japanese coercion of 200,000 women from Korea, China, the Philippines and other Asian countries into brothels to serve Japanese soldiers during the Second World War. The so-called "comfort women" issue is not completely settled. In particular, it continues to hang over Japan's relations with South Korea.

What will the world look like about two decades from now? In December, the United States National Intelligence Council published its guess: Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds...US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has referred to the Obama administration's foreign policy as being based on "smart power", and argued that we should not talk about "multipolarity", but about "multi-partnerships". Likewise, the NIC report suggests that Americans must learn better how to exercise power with as well as over other states.

As part of their growing competition for influence in Asia, China and India are using the Buddha as weapon: sponsoring conferences, financing religious sites, and displaying relics in countries where the religion is widely adhered to.

The NIC foresees a transformed world, in which “no country — whether the US, China, or any other large country — will be a hegemonic power.” This reflects four “megatrends”: individual empowerment and the growth of a global middle class; diffusion of power from states to informal networks and coalitions; demographic changes, owing to urbanisation, migration, and aging; and increased demand for food, water and energy.

China's official news service plans an initial public offering for its digital arm, potentially giving it needed heft in a market where staid state-run media compete for an audience with attention-grabbing headlines and slide shows of attractive women.

US is not able to restrict Iran's soft power by spreading Iranophobia, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces for Basij and Defense Culture Brigadier General Massoud Jazzayeri said, IRNA reported.

In a little noticed event on New Year’s Day, China inaugurated its first non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of soft power—China Public Diplomacy Association (CPDA). Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi attended and spoke at the unveiling ceremony for the group, which elected as its president Li Zhaoxing, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of China's National People's Congress.