With the global COVID-19 crisis quickly escalating, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has had to accept a hard truth, rightly taking the initiative in telling the Diet (parliament) this week that the Tokyo Summer Olympic Games may need to be rescheduled, and ultimately reaching an agreement with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to postpone the event until 2021.

Japan and the ROK face several obstacles on the road to reconciliation, not least of which is their deep historical tension. Japan is also now demonstrating that the U.S. isn’t the only player willing to use economic means to fight a political dispute.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a great election victory, enabling him to push through his agenda. But this victory will prove hollow if he doesn’t favor cooperation over cut-throat competition.

The radiation leaks in Fukushima threatens not only the safety of Japanese citizens but that of participants, spectators and visitors coming to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Should the US take a role as the inspector of Japan’s nuclear facilities ahead of the Olympic Games?

The relations between China and the US and between China and Japan, although in constant flux, will never transcend that between the US and Japan, writes Jiang Yuechun.

As long as there is sufficient political will and wisdom in Northeast Asia, the prospects for regional cooperation is encouraging, writes Chen Jimin.

Liu Junhong writes that Japan’s recent election results reflect the shifting landscape of Japan's party politics, and drastic changes in the country's domestic and international environment.

How vital is resolution of the Senkaku/Diaoyu territorial dispute to Sino-US relations? As Stephen M. Harner explains, the United States has undertaken high-level exchanges with key influencers in Japan in an attempt to pressure Japan to concede on the issue.

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 a rising power, China must face growing frictions. To peacefully progress, Zhang Tuosheng explains, China must do three things. First, it must utilize the effective policies since “reform and opening up.” Next, it must seek to redefine the “great power structure” of the world on multiple levels. Finally, it must build its means to manage crises.