The conference on diplomacy with neighboring countries signaled a new era for proactive interaction between China and its neighbors, writes Chen Xiangyang.

The US rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific has unsettled relations with China, and distrust between the two countries has deepened since the United States started relocating its massive military assets to the region.

United States allies in the Asia-Pacific nervously await Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to China, Japan and South Korea in early December, as they look for indications the Obama administration will continue its pivot to Asia. However, as Benjamin Friedman of the Cato Institute points out, the pivot is more symbolic than substantive.

China’s rapid rise to power has caught the attention of the world. China’s new diplomatic strategy of extending “olive branches” has some states worried and others intrigued. Can a balance be found between China’s national interests, the US pivot to Asia and the interests of regional actors such as ASEAN or Japan?

Japan is making provocative statements on the issue of the Diaoyu Islands and questioning the Chinese position, writes Xue Junying.

Xi Jinping has launched a new era of periphery diplomacy and will make for better political and economic relations with neighboring countries, closer security cooperation and stronger people-to-people contact.

China and the U.S. are among the major powers with great influence in the Middle East, and the interactions between the two are highly relevant to the prospect of peace, stability and prosperity of the region. Now, that they both adhere to reactive policies in the Middle East, Jin Liangxiang argues the two countries should collaborate in the region.

Following the “2+2” meeting between Japan’s foreign and defense ministers and their Russian counterparts, Stephen Harner examines the substance of the meeting and compares it to the recent “2+2” meeting between Japan and the US, noting the US-Japan defense alliance is fueling an arms race and nurturing militarism in the Asia-Pacific.

All eyes are on the Central Committee’s Third Plenum scheduled to open in Beijing on November 9 for details about China’s economic reforms. As attention focuses on domestic economic development, however, Chinese foreign policy also deserves notice.

As China and the United States still have several high-level meetings scheduled before the end of the year, Xie Feng explains why many analysts are hoping for more positive relations between the two countries.