Reuters writes, "Greater cooperation between China and the United States, the two biggest greenhouse gas emitters, has helped create 'strong momentum' ahead of climate change negotiations due at the end of the year, the U.S. climate envoy said on Friday...But while differences remain between China and the United States, there were also growing areas of common ground, especially after a joint declaration signed last November, he said. 'It is not going to be easy - I have no illusions about that - but we are not in the same place we were in eight or nine months before Copenhagen...there is a greater level of convergence on some very important issues, and there is a greater measure of realism with respect to what needs to happen to get a deal.' In a joint announcement in November, China agreed to bring CO2 emissions to a peak by 'around 2030' while the United States said it would cut its own carbon levels by 26-28 percent by 2025, from 2005 levels."
The New York Times writes, "In a small step toward a possible thaw in relations, officials from Japan and China on Thursday held their first meeting on security issues in four years, discussing the creation of a hotline to ease tensions in the East China Sea...According to officials, a priority in the Tokyo talks was to find ways - like a hotline or a similar phone connection - to communicate with each other on short notice to avoid clashes at sea, or at least to prevent them from spiraling into a bigger conflict. Preventing an accidental war has become a pressing issue as Chinese and Japanese armed ships and aircraft have frequently challenged each other near uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that are claimed by both nations. So far, these encounters have remained peaceful, but experts have warned that a single miscalculation could escalate into a military confrontation."
According to an opinion article from The New York Times, "The Obama administration, to its embarrassment, has been spurned by Western allies flocking to a China-led Asian development bank, defying White House pleas to stand back. In a surprise announcement last week, Britain said it would become the first Western nation to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a potential rival to the American-led World Bank. On Tuesday, Germany, France and Italy announced that they would also join the bank, and Australia and South Korea are expected to follow. Their decisions were proof that even Europe's biggest economies, founders with the United States of the postwar global economic order, cannot resist the newest gold rush - into China, the world's second-largest economy and a major export and investment market. Funding the new bank is another effort by China to become an even more dominant influence in the region."