In Southeast Asia’s final frontier, the two ports of Kyaukphyu and Thilawa have emerged with two contrasting trajectories of development. The tale of these two ports in Myanmar do not only chronicle the varying differences in Chinese and Japanese approaches to foreign developments but also reflect a regional rivalry for clout.

Not possessing so much as an aircraft carrier, it was long believed that China had no intention and, more importantly, no capacity for projecting power abroad. As China becomes a global player, it is logical that Chinese military capacity be expanded to meet its obligations and interests abroad. China has already used its naval forces to protect economic interests in Africa and the Middle East.

Trump is trying to compensate for his diplomatic handicaps in Asia by stirring up antagonism against China. It won’t work.

ASEAN meetings almost always generate expectations of raising the South China Sea (SCS) disputes to the point where the success of the meeting boils down to how tough the adopted language is in the final official statements. Considering the breadth and depth of issues covered by ASEAN in its annual meetings, such reduction is unfortunate and unfair.

What China almost certainly desires is an independent but friendly buffer state. For that reason it resists U.S. demands to impose bone-crunching economic sanctions on the North. However, this stance reflects more than a desire to annoy America. Rather, Beijing sees it as a matter of national security.

Unprecedented threats to US national security, coupled with a volatile President besieged by domestic problems makes the threat of military conflict increasingly likely.

As the North Korean regime conducts more advanced missile testing and the U.S. and its allies ramp up rhetoric and weaponry, China must steer all parties toward peace. By focusing on achieving non-proliferation and regional stability, Xi Jinping’s nation can lead the Asian Pacific away from the brink of war.

So far, the war between US President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un over the latter’s nuclear program has been fought only in words. But each turn of the rhetorical screw deepens the risk that, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, “jaw-jaw” could turn into “war-war.”

If The U.S. can’t come to a coherent position on cyber affairs domestically, what chances for success are there for a body such as the GGE, seeking to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive agreement?

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un says the United States will pay a “thousand-fold for all the heinous crimes” it has committed against his country. US President Donald Trump warns that North Korea will experience “fire and fury like the world has never seen.” Kim threatens to fire four missiles at the US territory of Guam. Trump promises that Kim “will truly regret it” and “regret it fast” if he follows through on that threat, or issues another.