So long as the overall strength of the mainland continues to grow and cross-strait relations continue to improve, the day will come when the U.S. and Taiwan have to decide whether arms deals are still needed, writes Zhou Bo.

How can Taipei bring about stable, enduring deterrence across the Taiwan Strait? Jim Holmes discusses this question and other defense issues pestering cross-straight relations.

The decision of the Turkish government to purchase its first long-range air and missile defense system from a Chinese corporation rather than competing U.S., European, and Russian systems has aroused much attention. However, this decision is unsurprising given Ankara’s longstanding desire to gain as much foreign defense technology as possible for the lowest cost.

Washington has made it a point to handle arms sales to Taiwan as delicately as possible. However, following a recent visit by Senator James Inhofe and other developments, the Obama administration is finding it more challenging to walk the diplomatic tightrope.

NASA’s ban on Chinese researchers and scientists at next month’s meeting at the Ames Research Center has caused outcry far and wide. While the backlash against NASA has came mostly from big name research institutions, like Yale University, Wu Zurong writes that US politicians stuck in a Cold War-mindset are to blame.

The US should help NATO countries work together with countries in the East for the benefit of world peace, writes Wu Zurong. Whether to sow discord and create new divisions between the East and the West, or to increase mutual understanding and cooperation between them is a serious test.

Debates have been spurred over the strategies of the United States’ new Air-Sea Battle (ASB) military concept that addresses the scenario of Chinese aggression. Complications such as likely nuclear escalation may keep fighting off mainland China and lead to proxy wars that will require building strong military relationships with allies that can keep Chinese and U.S. ambitions in check.

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.

With the US military reaching out to establish a better military-to-military dialogue with China, Canada’s military initiatives should have a positive impact on US-China military relations, writes Hugh Stephens.

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.