Adam Minter writes on Bloomberg that ever since U.S. President Donald Trump announced the U.S. would withdraw from the Paris climate treaty, there's been lots of overheated talk about how China will now seize leadership of the global fight against climate change. It's easy to see why: Chinese leaders face pressure to address rampant pollution and have the resources to implement massive clean-energy projects, such as the world's largest floating solar array, launched on a Chinese lake last week. But if China truly is to lead the world in promoting renewables, it's going to have to think small as well as big. The real opportunity is in pushing innovative greentech -- especially the type that fits on a rooftop...At the end of 2014, for instance, rooftop solar accounted for just 17 percent of China's installed solar capacity...China will install 7 to 8 gigawatts of rooftop solar in 2017 -- an amount equal to the cumulative installed rooftop solar base up to 2016...China's National Energy Administration is piloting a program in rural areas to boost the incomes of two million poor Chinese, using rooftop solar...State Grid Corporation of China, a power monopoly that dominates 26 of China's 32 provinces, has awakened to the business opportunity that rooftop solar presents and is working to make it technically and financially feasible for households and businesses.

Reuters reports that several Asian nations are seeking to bolster informal alliances among themselves, regional diplomats and officials said, unsettled by growing fears that the United States could not be relied on to maintain a buffer against China's assertiveness. Countries including Australia, Japan, India and Vietnam are quietly stepping up discussions and co-operation, although taking care they do not upset Beijing, the diplomats said. No one was yet talking about a formal alliance. Inaugurating the weekend Shangri-La Dialogue, the region's premier security forum, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said: "In this brave new world we cannot rely on great powers to safeguard our interests. "We have to take responsibility for our own security and prosperity, while recognizing we are stronger when sharing the burden of collective leadership with trusted partners and friends." His comments resonated through the three-day meeting that ended on Sunday. Regional officials and analysts said there was growing mistrust of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, especially because of his withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on trade and then, last week, the pullout from the Paris climate accord. Many fear Trump is signaling a deeper retreat from a traditional U.S. security role that has underpinned the region for decades.