Tandem act of soft power

When China's Premier Li Keqiang visits Britain and Greece over six days starting on June 16, one of the most prominent members of his entourage will be his wife, Cheng Hong.

Her presence on the trip suggests that China is already reaping handsome rewards from her early forays into soft diplomacy, as well as those of Peng Liyuan, wife of President Xi Jinping.

"Cheng's presence may help both to attract more media coverage and let the British people know more about changing China," says Alex Kirby, a former veteran BBC journalist, who has continued to be an avid China watcher since he retired.

Li visited Europe twice last year without Cheng, but she was by his side when he visited Angola, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria last month. China observers say that on the UK-Greece trip, as Li engages in talks on economic and other matters, it is likely that Cheng, a professor of English at Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing, will be meeting young people and even talking about Greek classics.

The clamor in Britain and Greece to see Cheng put her best foot forward is all the more since the recent visit of Xi and Peng, a well-known soprano in China, to Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, with all the attendant glamor.

Even as coverage of China in the European media is dominated by its territorial spats with some of its neighbors and disputes with the US over computer hacking, Li is likely to stress China's pursuit of peace and prosperity backed by solid research and education. His audiences are likely to include university students, and his wife is expected to use academic settings to engage with locals.

Pierre Picquart, a China observer and professor at the University of Paris VIII, says top Chinese leaders being accompanied by their wives is not just an opportunity for China to strengthen its soft power but also a chance for it to strengthen cultural exchanges, academic relations and humanitarian efforts between China and Europe.

"Xi and Peng are regarded as an important political couple in Europe," Picquart says. "It has been increasingly obvious that Chinese leaders are paying greater attention than before to the influence of soft diplomatic arrangements during official visits."