Headlines would suggest a U.S.-China confrontation is imminent, but a close examination of the economic relations between the two nations and the material reality of trade reveal that instigating a conflict would be a proverbial shot in the foot for either side.

After the tribunal’s categorical ruling on the South China Sea, China’s new strategy could be to lower the temperature by reframing the issue away from rocks, sand and physical territory. It could then seek to reframe the issue around the potential multilateral benefits of China’s Maritime Silk Road concept.

If China can be nudged to align various policies to be more in line with U.S. interests in a way that allows China, too, to save face and claim its required victories at home, this summit will have been worthwhile, and better than having not met at all.

China-U.S. competition and rivalry in the South China Sea is structural, strategic, and irreconcilable. Preventing conflicts there from damaging bilateral ties is a practical imperative for decision-makers in both countries.

Tensions are rising in the South China Sea — so why is the East China Sea so calm?

While the U.S. and China understand that military confrontation is in neither nation’s interest, leaders are not willing to budge from actions they consider key to protecting vital national interests. The U.S. has interest in the shipping lanes and its regional allies, while China is unshakable in its desire to safeguard regional sovereignty.

Despite the low profile and low-level nature with no substantial results, that Chinese and Japanese defense and maritime officials did meet and talk means a lot

Zhou Bo posits that an essential component to improving frosty Japan-China relations is an equal commitment to develop shared maritime procedures, such as the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES). But first, the two sides need to agree upon a common Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).

While borrowing Chinese President Xi's hope that the United States would take into consideration the Chinese perspective when it comes to territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas, Wang Dong criticizes widely spread US misperception and misunderstanding of China's foreign policy behavior, and argues that the absence of the Chinese perspective may have led to much of the misreading of China’s behavior.

Given recent territorial moves by China, as well as heightened aggressive rhetoric, Curtis Chin analyzes the parallels between China currently and Japan as it existed in the past. Additionally, Chin asserts that the world’s powers should work to lower tensions so that peace and prosperity can exist in the Asia-Pacific region.