Los Angleles Times, commenting on the successful conclusion of COP21 Paris conference, writes that what a difference six years makes: Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared side by side at the start of this year's Paris climate change talks. And on Saturday, as global leaders congratulated themselves on reaching an agreement, the U.S. was singling out China for praise for its constructive engagement. Asked after the vote to cite the most important steps along the way that enabled the deal, Kerry immediately pointed to China's willingness to "build a working partnership" with Washington and jointly announce national emissions-reduction targets in advance. Who pays for change remains a key question at the Paris climate talks. What explains China's shift? It's not necessarily pangs of guilt nor a newfound sense of global munificence. Instead, after years of downplaying its environmental crisis, Chinese leaders appear to have recognized that cleaning up China's toxic skies and pushing the country toward renewable energy are crucial to maintaining the Communist Party's grip on power amid rising public discontent. Now, instead of regarding any multilateral environmental pact as a hindrance to unbridled economic growth, China sees an opportunity to seize agreements such as the Paris deal to showcase itself as a progressive superpower and responsible international stakeholder — while doing things it needs to do at home anyway.

Bloomberg writes that India and Japan took their biggest steps yet to deepen strategic ties, and it's mostly thanks to China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe reached a slew of agreements in New Delhi over the weekend that underscore how their personal chemistry is translating into ever-warmer economic, military and strategic ties. The steps are designed to ensure that the rise of China, the top trading partner for both nations, doesn't come at the expense of smaller economies in the region. "Modi and Abe are telegraphing a striking message: We're taking this relationship to the next level, even at the risk of roiling China," said Michael Kugelman, senior associate at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. "As close as these two countries are, they had held off to an extent in order not to overly alarm China.

Wall Street Journal reports: "Guo Guangchang, the founder and chairman of $15 billion conglomerate Fosun International, suddenly disappeared in Shanghai Thursday. In recent months Chinese tycoons have dropped out of sight with alarming regularity. Their companies later claim, as Fosun did, that the missing executive is "assisting in certain investigations." But the arrest is a reminder that President Xi Jinping's anticorruption campaign is becoming part of an effort to reimpose Communist Party control over the commanding heights of the economy.Fosun's president said Sunday that Mr. Guo's detention is due to "personal matters." The fact that he is allowed to telephone his colleagues suggests investigators may want him to give evidence against others. But since the Party's discipline inspection units don't release details of their investigations and operate beyond the reach of the law, there is no way to know."