Introduction: the soft power concept and a rising China / Hongyi Lai -- Soft power and Chinese soft power / Zheng Yongnian and Chi Zhang -- Soft language, soft imagery and soft power in China's diplomatic lexicon / David Scott -- The quandary of China's soft-power rhetoric: the "peaceful-rise" concept and internal debate / Dominik Mierzejewski -- China's cultural diplomacy: going for soft power / Hongyi Lai -- Challenges for China's international communication / Yiyi Lu -- Challenges for China's harmonious diplomacy / Cheng (Jason) Qian -- Debunking the myth of China's soft power: changes in China's use of foreign assistance from 1949 to the present / Merriden Varral -- Is China rising at America's expenses? anti-Americanism and pro-China sentiments in global public opinion / Zixiao Yang, David Zweig, and Zhengxu Wang -- China's foreign policy as a rising power in the early 21st century: -- The struggle between taoguangyanghui and assertiveness / Suisheng Zhao.