Radio86 asked Nicholas Winslow, the head of the US pavilion team heading to Shanghai, about how preparations for the event expected to see some 70 million visitors during the course of six months were going.

China's astounding economic growth has earned it a place among the main players on the world stage. How is its rise perceived by its Asian neighbors? Radio86 interviews Senator Francis N. Pangilinan, former majority floor leader of the Philippine Senate.

World leaders have gathered in Copenhagen this week to hammer out a global climate deal at the UN Climate Change Conference. However, even though the future of our planet hangs in the balance, many are pessimistic about whether the meeting will lead to any significant advances in the fight against global warming.

As the preparations for next week's Copenhagen climate summit are winding down, it seems that a consensus on global efforts to combat climate change is still a long way off. The USA and China, at least, seem to be in completely opposite camps when it comes to climate change mitigation. China specialist and journalist Eric Meyer takes a closer look at this complicated issue.

Through his own writing work and marriage to Shanghai author Anchee Min, American writer Lloyd Lofthouse has probably gained more insight into China's development than most Chinese will in their lifetime.

Mary-Anne Toy, China correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age newspapers, spoke to Radio86 candidly about covering the events that took place in Tibet last March from a Western standpoint and about the prevailing media environment in China.

China Institute in New York City, founded in 1926, is the oldest establishment of its kind in the United States. Radio86 spoke with Nancy Jervis, the institute's vice president and Confucius Institute dean, about the growing interest in the West towards China.

The European Institute for Asian Studies (EIAS) based in Brussels serves as a communication link between Asian countries and the European Union Parliament.

China and Japan are on the right path to developing a "culture of trust."

China's political past is a subject that cannot be covered in its entirety in one article. Professor Hans van de Ven from the University of Cambridge helped shed some light on the development of the Chinese political system, its functioning, as well as its future challenges.