The US President Obama is scheduled to attend the annual APEC meeting and to visit China in early November. It gives the world an encouraging signal when Susan Rice said that Obama considers his visit as an important milestone in building important relations between China and the US, writes Wu Zurong.

Are India and Japan attempting to contain China while becoming Asia’s new industrial center? Liu Junhong explores this question and the recent meetings between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.

Following Xi Jinping’s first state visit to India, Fu Xiaoqiang examines the Sino-Indian relationship and discusses how China can work with India to improve bilateral relations and ensure peaceful coexistence.

Haiyang Shiyou 981 (HYSY 981) is a state-of-the-art, semi-submersible oil platform – the first of its kind for the China National Offshore Oil Corporation. Zheng Wang and Andrew Ludwig explore the HYSY 981 and discuss whether it will enhance political cooperation or fuel greater tensions in the South China Sea.

Reflecting on the recent joint naval exercises between Iran and China, Michal Meidan explores how the strategic relationship between the two nations involves more than just oil and discusses how US-led sanctions against Iran continue to complicate geopolitics.

Is China disposing of its hard-line policies towards regional neighbors and embracing a more conciliatory approach? Recent diplomatic gestures and the upgrading of relations with Vietnam and South Korea suggest Beijing is undertaking a new charm offensive in the Asia Pacific.

The United States, India and China are all important players in Asia. It is unlikely that any two countries can unite and exclude a third party. Compatibility, rather than competition, is in the interest of all the three countries, writes Su Xiaohui.

Analyzing the recent travels of Chinese President Xi Jingping, Chen Xiangyang examines the “new normal” of periphery diplomacy in China’s foreign policy and explains how it will continue to strengthen relations with regional nations.

While many believe that the China-US relationship is passing through a rocky period and has dropped to a low point, Wu Jianmin suggests that the foundation of the relationship remains strong.

Responding to a recent opinion editorial in The Washington Post, Stephen Harner writes that now is the time for U.S. leaders to join with disruptors of history, like Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter, to proactively promote change in U.S.-China relations.