Spring Festival diplomacy counters critics' claims

Is the world facing a "lost" decade as it continues to struggle to emerge from the global financial crisis that originated in the United States in 2008? Amid continuous turmoil in the global stock markets last week, the plummeting price of oil to a new low and increasing geo-political concerns, fears, worries and dismay over the state of the Chinese economy have dominated the Western media in spite of the good feelings triggered by China's Spring Festival celebrations.

Once again, the country is being made a scapegoat for the falling stock markets, despite the obvious fact that the difference in monetary policy between the European Union and the United States has dented investors' confidence and the drop in commodity prices has mainly resulted from the decline in global demand, as the global economy is growing at a snail's pace.

Against such a backdrop, China's ambassadors in Europe started a "charm offensive" over the Lunar New Year by giving speeches, organizing get-togethers and talking with opinion leaders while offering Spring Festival greetings.