China has donated school buses to Macedonia, and these buses were handed over to the south-eastern European country yesterday. more ›

Remember US Vice President Joe Biden's cheap Chinese brunch? Yes, apparently the Global Times even has a name for it -- "noodle diplomacy". more ›

The new US ambassador to China Gary Locke made his first public appearance this weekend in Beijing, using the opportunity to assure China that its investment in the US dollar is safe. With headlines in Chinese state media like "Locke to rebuild US reputation" and "New US ambassador faces a tough job", the tone in Beijing seems at the very least welcoming, if not optimistic over the arrival of the former US Secretary of Commerce. After burning up the Chinese internets last weekend because he buys his own coffee and carries his own backpack, Locke was asked whether he plans to use social media to speak directly with Chinese citizens, and responded "We look forward to using all forms of communications, including blogging and the electronic media." In the mean time, you can follow him on Twitter at @AmbLocke. Surprisingly, we still can't find a verified account for him on Weibo! But you can follow the U.S. Embassy in Beijing here. more ›

Lookout, Beijing, there's a new American sheriff ambassador in town. Democrat Gary Locke (骆家辉), a third-generation Chinese-American with ancestral roots in Taishan (台山), Guangdong, has just been confirmed as the newest American ambassador to China, replacing current Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman. Locke (no relation to the Father of Liberalism) was a former two-term governor of the great state of Washington, and is to this day still the only American politician of Asian descent to ever serve as governor. more ›

''To speak Chinese is not to know China.'' more ›

You've heard of China's ping-pong diplomacy and panda diplomacy, but how much do you know about its hajj diplomacy? Below is an excerpt of an interesting article we found on Middle East Online, written by Alain Gresh of Le Monde: more ›

Despite a theme touting "Living in harmony through the ages", the India Pavilion so far has been less than peaceful. First, a debacle with some politically sensitive maps and now, in a dispute over salary, Chinese workers are maliciously taking out their anger by....turning off the lights. more ›

Anti-China protestors gathered in Tokyo on Saturday to demonstrate against what Japan has seen as China's overly aggressive response to the collision between a Chinese captain's ship and Japanese coastguards in the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands area on 7th September. more ›

While China's busy being pissed off at the United States, maybe now's the best opportunity to talk about something, well, cuter and cuddlier between the two nations. See, the United States is about to change direction and make a rare export to China - namely, two giant pandas. Mei Lan, born in Atlanta in 2006 and Tai Shan, born in Washington, D.C. in 2005, are currently aboard a Boeing 777 freighter from Washington, D.C. to Beijing. more ›

Wouldn't Sting be proud: China's new expo outreach plan is to put bottles with invitations to the expo into the sea, and let them float to neighboring countries where someone might pick them up, and decide to come. We guess this is China's SOS to the world: please, please come to the Expo! But since the message was in English, French and Chinese, and they sent them off towards Japan and South Korea, we have our doubts that it'll work. more ›

"A top aide to Gordon Brown has been a suspected victim of a “honeytrap” operation by Chinese intelligence agents. The aide, a senior Downing Street adviser who was with the prime minister on a trip to China earlier this year, had his BlackBerry phone stolen after being picked up by a Chinese woman who had approached him in a Shanghai hotel disco. The aide agreed to return to his hotel with the woman. He reported the BlackBerry missing the next morning. The aide, whose identity is known to The Sunday Times, immediately reported the theft to the prime minister’s Special Branch protection team and was informally reprimanded." [Source] more ›

"What he's doing on Nepal is what we think the international community ought to be doing, which is approaching the Chinese privately through diplomatic channels and sending a very firm message of concern for human rights, a concern for what's happening in Nepal, urging the Chinese government to understand that it is in their interest to reach out to representatives of the Dalai Lama, and to show, while the whole world is watching China, that they are determined to treat their citizens with dignity and respect. There is an opportunity here. And if countries are really concerned about Nepal, we shouldn't have this sort of non-issue of opening ceremonies or not. They should do the hard work of quiet diplomacy to urge the Chinese government -- in their interest -- to take advantage of this opportunity to do something," more ›

Honestly, when China threw a shitfit after German chancellor Merkel met the Dalai Lama, we really didn't give a hoot, in part because we've given up on seeing our dream of Tibetan secession realized in our lifetimes. But one thing you might not have known is that this diplomatic contretemps spilled over to affect our fair city. There was supposed to be a week long symposium sponsored by Der Spiegel at the Duolun Museum... more ›