Let me begin by describing a scenario to you.

It’s Wednesday night in Costa Rica, about 8.30pm, and people in Costa Rica, as people do in most countries, are watching prime-time television. On this particular night, Costa Rica takes on their neighbors Venezuela in a soccer match and, due to the mass popularity of soccer in Costa Rica, it is drawing a large audience. Costa Rica scores, and after endless replays and analysis of a truly average goal, the action cuts to a "and here’s the reaction in China" sequence of pictures.

The 2011 Taipei International Book Exhibition is now underway at the Taipei World Trade Center. President Ma Ying-jeou spoke at the opening ceremony on Wednesday. He said that Taiwan's "publishing power" is not only an important form of soft power for the Republic of China, which is the official name of Taiwan.

A singing and dancing performance staged by the Taiwan Aboriginal Art Group at the 6th MIFA International Exchange Festival in Tokyo on Sunday earned the acclaim of the audience.

Taiwan may be famous as a high-tech manufacturing giant. But in the last decade, the island of just 23 million has also quietly become one of the world's top flower exporters, and the world's No. 1 exporter of orchids.

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.

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s recent documentary about trade in shark-fins focused on Costa Rica and the pariah state of Taiwan. While filming he was reportedly threatened at gunpoint and covered in petrol by those who took exception to his presence.

Wang Yi, minister of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Tuesday the mainland and Taiwan should seize the opportunity to set up a systematic mechanism for cultural and educational exchanges.

In a major speech last week Taiwan's President Ma Ying-Jeou (pictured) outlined the country's bid to become a higher education hub, and said some universities could begin to teach in English - a move that could draw students from mainland China and elsewhere in Asia away from universities in Britain, Australia and the US.