The KMT and the DPP will soon unveil candidates for the top executive job in Taiwan, and politics will revolve around the 2016 election. Both Beijing and Washington are hoping that the people of Taiwan will elect a leader that supports stable cross-strait relations and peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific.

Cui Liru describes a transforming international picture of national power relations, one that is moving toward a multipolar world of influence. In order to avoid the possibilities or true confrontation, China must more clearly realize what it wants to achieve in the world, and also needs to imagine what a peaceful coexistence with the U.S. would look like.

Chen Yonglong explains the six “normal” states of interaction that will define the China-U.S. relationship: in redefining shared global power; in how leaders conduct dialogue; in economics; in strategic contention of hegemony and ideology; in their efforts to control dispute; and finally in their cycles of balance and rebalance.

In the two and a half years since Beijing raised the concept of building a “new model of major-country relations,” the U.S. has made statements that it doesn’t completely subscribe. However, as Yu Sui explains, these concerns are out of fear of a unilateral U.S. concession to Chinese demands, rather than an understanding of the mutual benefits at stake.

Chinese experts underestimate the strong drivers underpinning the U.S. pivot to Asia, which will likely continue despite the Democratic losses in the recent congressional elections and the retirement of the U.S. Defense Secretary. Indeed, President Obama’s Asian policies enjoy bipartisan support and remain a White House priority despite economic and other challenges.

After several years of drift and decline, the US-China relationship ended 2014 modestly improved. The central task going into a new year is to build on this new momentum to strengthen the foundation of the relationship, build strategic trust, and work in tandem (or in parallel) on global issues of mutual concern.

China and US should deepen their cooperation and coordination in helping other countries to find a more sustainable development model, thus showing the world that their ideological differences can be mutually complementary rather than only contradictory.

Speaking at the recent Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs, Xi Jinping spelled out China’s new foreign-policy vision, which many have characterized as a diplomatic manifesto to secure the “Chinese dream”.

Wu Jianmin relays his concluding remarks from the Second China-U.S. Policy Forum in Beijing on December 13th – 15th, reiterating the history of China’s opening up to the West, and more recent phases of China-U.S. cooperation. Wu believes the U.S. and China can identify convergent interests, and make the foundation of the China-U.S. relationship stronger and stronger.

The recently concluded Xiangshan Forum addressed the prospect of a New Asian Security Concept, suggesting that strong political leadership will be necessary for building a community of common interests.