Los Angeles Times reports: "Even as smog levels in Beijing often turn the sky a smoky gray, one thing was clear at the global climate change talks in Paris: China, once a laggard, emerged as a key player in the battle to help avert the worst effects of global warming. The shift, by the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, helped pave the way for the commitment by nearly 200 nations to reduce emissions...The alignment between China's domestic agenda and its willingness to step up in Paris was brought into sharp relief last week as air pollution levels skyrocketed in Beijing. For the first time, city officials issued a 'red alert,' closing schools, shutting down work at construction sites and ordering millions of cars off the capital's roads. Since Xi came to power about three years ago, Chinese leaders have shown increasing political will to impose extraordinary measures to clean the skies, even if it means curtailing economic activity."

Foreign Policy writes: "Worried about China's increasing naval might, the U.S. Navy is scrambling to buy new anti-ship missiles for the first time in decades and throwing out its old playbook for war strategy in the Pacific. Since the end of the Cold War, the American military has enjoyed unrivaled dominance on the high seas, with no other navy posing a serious threat. But over the past decade, China has rapidly built up a naval force to be reckoned with, spending tens of billions of dollars annually to produce dozens of new warships of every size, and a formidable arsenal of missiles aimed at undercutting America's naval reach. Russia also has begun to flex its muscle at sea after a long decline, launching cruise missiles last week at targets in Syria from its new stealth submarine, the Rostov-on-Don. The emerging threat from China in particular has prompted American naval commanders to reevaluate their war-fighting strategy and to rush work on a new anti-ship missile for surface ships. The Pentagon plans to modify existing missiles that initially had been designed for other purposes, starting with the Tomahawk, which traditionally had been used against stationary targets on land.