China's campaign to use the soft power of culture to present an appealing face to the world seems to have found an official mascot: Confucius. The 2,500-year-old Chinese theorist, who preached devotion to tradition, has become the first non-revolutionary figure to be honored in Tiananmen Square with a new monumental statue...

Kutch may be Gujarat's most barren region, but it has given birth to people with the most fertile imagination. Films, music, literature... Kutchis have left their imprint on everything creative.

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s recent documentary about trade in shark-fins focused on Costa Rica and the pariah state of Taiwan.... While this undoubtedly made for compelling television viewing on the UK’s Channel 4 TV station on Sunday January 16 (soon to be aired in the USA), for analysts of public diplomacy and soft power, the incident demonstrates a number of underlying truths.

Addressing a symposium to mark the 10th anniversary of the Law on Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, Liu said popularizing the standard Chinese language is vital for "carrying out the Chinese culture, enhancing the country's soft power, national unification and unity among all ethnic groups."

The latest chapter in the long story of panda diplomacy was written at Washington’s National Zoo, where the Chinese government agreed to lengthen the “loan” of popular panda pair Mei Xiang and Tian Tian for another five years.

When Barack Obama became US president, one of his top foreign policy priorities was to improve relations with China. Yet on the eve of President Hu Jintao's state visit to Washington, US-China relations are worse, rather than better.

China has unveiled a 60-second promotional video on the huge screens in New York City's Times Square to coincide with President Hu Jintao's US visit this week -- a flashy bit of soft diplomacy.

Shi Anbin, deputy dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University, and Zheng Yannong, deputy director of China International Public Relations Association, talk with the Guangzhou Daily about how China should enact a public relations (PR) strategy to enhance its image in the world.