Faced with harboring Edward Snowden and damaging the US-China relationship; or returning him to the United States and inducing anger from Chinese citizens, Su Xiaohui argues that the Chinese government’s chosen actions revealed great restraint.

The dispute over territory in the South China Sea has become a flashpoint for Asian regional politics. China’s policy has used both big and small-stick diplomacy to assert its claim to the region. In doing so, it has formed a new normality for the region.

Critiquing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s interview in Foreign Affairs, Liu Jiangyong dissects the differences between Japan’s Yasukuni Shrine, embroiled in controversy over its militaristic history, and the United States’ Arlington National Cemetery.

As time progresses, regional trade agreements have grown in number. Although these agreements are effective and beneficial to those nations involved, they cannot and should not replace the global "free-trade" framework.

At the heart of China’s request for a new type of big power relationship with the US is a demand for greater symmetry in bilateral negotiations, writes Pang Zhongying. Only a roughly symmetrical relationship can be stable.

Everyone is talking about China’s economic slowdown, writes Zhang Jun. But, as Premier Li Keqiang seems to recognize, this trend could actually be beneficial, spurring the structural reforms that China needs.

Are we one of the blind men when we try to explain China? We see only part of it but claim that to be the truth about China. The field of China studies needs revisions to meet challenges to understanding such a large and fast-changing country, especially in the following three aspects: reliance on trans-Atlantic thought to analyze China; failure to update with changes; and lack of integration.

Although China’s economic growth continues to slow, with economic data coming well below market expectations, Yi Xianrong explains that the People’s Bank of China will not rush to endorse quantitative easing.

With a new type of bilateral relationship, China and the US should achieve trust in politics, economic complementarity, cultural exchange, military interaction and diplomatic consultation, writes Yu Sui.

The Xi-Obama Sunnylands summit came at a crucial time in the bilateral relationship. The weekend meeting, which featured a variety of discussions including a new great-power relationship and increasing mutual trust, was seen as a step in the right direction for Sino-US relations.