As Japanese Prime Minister Abe seems to have discarded his nationalist talking points in favor of a more populist platform, many wonder how China will be affected?

Although the US is firmly established in the region, many Pacific countries are concerned about US stability and consistency in policy. China’s recent confident actions have allowed for relations with ASEAN to grow and may have begun to act to supplant the US role. But do the two powers need to be competing or can they work in tandem?

In the wake of President Xi and Premier Li’s visits to Southeast Asia, China not only underscored its diplomatic commitment to the region but also elevated its partnerships with neighboring countries to more strategic ones. Zhai Kun examines in which ways the new Chinese leadership “upgraded” the China-ASEAN relations.

President Barack Obama and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands before their bilateral meeting at the G-20 Summit on Friday, Sept. 6, 2013, in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Cai Penghong reviews the achievements attained at the 2013 APEC Summit in Bali, and the 8th East Asia Summit and concludes that, despite President Obama’s absence, a number of noteworthy developments and deals have been put into place.

After two decades of on-and-off talks, Washington and Brussels hope to conclude their trade and investment partnership. However, it is not a marriage, but a triangle drama. Emerging Asia is the third party.

While US efforts to enhance stability in the Asia-Pacific region are welcome, they are inadequate to offset the rising strategic and economic uncertainty facing ASEAN member countries. Fortunately, ASEAN leaders seem to recognize this, and are working to establish a full-fledged diplomatic and economic “community” by 2015.

The China-US relationship is the most critical in today’s world. With the continued focus on the US pivot to Asia, many question the stability of the relationship as well as the goals of the two parties. While the US and China have differences, they should not view each other as threats, but rather seek to promote and develop their relationship.

Increased military exchanges and cooperation between China and the US can be regarded as a step towards building a new type of Sino-US military relationship, writes Wu Zurong.

While unrealistic to expect the United State to suspend its arms sales to Taiwan, Liu suggests that the US and Chinese defense chiefs agree to build “a sustained, substantive military to military relationship” to bolster ties between the world’s two biggest economies.