Evolving circumstances mean that new approaches are essential to maintain the momentum that ties between the two countries have enjoyed for 30 years. If Beijing and Washington can chart a new course forward and institute workable frameworks, then the relationship may well be on track to scale new heights.

Washington has forced its way into the issue to complicate it further and escalate of regional tension. Such an egocentric move is against the trend of the times and the fundamental interests of the countries in the region and is bound to end in failure.

With its thriving economy, accelerating integration and evolving challenges to the security environment, ASEAN is destined to become an increasingly important region of the world. Its population is bigger than the combined population of the U.S. and Japan, and it represents a major frontier market.

Given the importance of both China and NATO, it is inconceivable that China and NATO don’t interact. Counter-piracy in the Gulf of Aden shows how both sides can work together to provide common security to the world.

China now provides half of Pakistan’s military hardware and has demonstrated willingness to transfer technology to Pakistan. As geo-political alignments are changing, the mutuality of interests is drawing China and Pakistan closer.

Since President Xi Jinping took office in 2013, China has been pursuing its own version of strategic rebalancing in foreign policy. China aims to re-position itself as “a state in the middle”, acting as a bridge among the developed and developing countries and maximizing the strategic space. If Chinese diplomacy and Beijing’s “connectivity” can ease the crisis in the Middle East, the achievement would affirm the nation’s rise to great-power status.

With Japan’s pride and nationalist impulse to play a bigger international role now rising, its domestic debate on national-security and constitutional reform is set to intensify. Although rising powers tend to be revisionist powers, a politically resurgent Japan, strikingly, is seeking to uphold the present Asian political and maritime order.

In a world of troubles, the ongoing re-shaping of the world order and global governance will require a meeting of minds and concerted actions from big powers.

The Philippine’s theme of this year's APEC Summit is “Building Inclusive Economies, Building A Better World.” Like the case for China's 2014 hosting, this 2015 agenda reflects clear Philippine domestic imperatives. As a major labor exporter, the Philippines will work well with the topic of investments in human capital development.