While both China’s Xi Jinping and Japan’s Shinzo Abe hope to forge closer ties with the United States, Sheila Smith notes the two leaders are showing some signs of diplomatic overtures.

Despite Shintaro Ishihara’s clamors for war between Japan and China, Feng Zhaokui writes that the existence of disputes should be the very reason for enhanced people-to-people and even official exchanges to smooth over the Sino-Japanese relationship.

Maritime disputes constitute the single likeliest source of instability and military conflict with China, says Swaine. He explains the primary drivers of tension in the East and South China Seas and identifies steps Washington can take to reduce the risk of hostilities.

Fire-control radar row is Tokyo's attempt to get more overt outside support and push for constitutional change.

As China’s new leadership appears to be be making efforts to dial down tensions with Japan over the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku islands, could a war between China and Japan be inadvertently sparked by a maritime accident?

Despite high tensions and risks between China and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, finding the way out may lead to constructing a new U.S.-China-Japan geopolitical order with better prospects for maintaining regional peace and security.

While tensions on the Korean Peninsula have gained widespread attention, Ted Galen Carpenter posits that the greater threat to stability comes from territorial disputes between Japan, China and Taiwan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands.

After World War II, its relations with the United States have been at the core of Japan’s foreign and security policies. However, there have been two different opinions within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on the relationship.

Mirroring foreign relations following World War II, it appears Japan is once again beholden to the US to preserve regional security. The US must toe a careful line between advancing Japanese interests and containing China.

Although Japanese PM Abe has been in office for less than two months, he has vowed to strengthen the US-Japan alliance to respond to the “threats” of China and North Korea. However,he has never explained exactly how he intends to strengthen the US-Japan alliance or what it means today.