The growing aggression in Japanese economic and security strategies now places China in a pivotal situation to maintain power. As tensions rise, both Japan and China look to the United States to balance the issues and work towards resolution.

Japan’s recent foreign policies have put a strain on the potential US-Japan-South Korea trilateral relationship. If right wing Japanese nationalists remain in power and continue the exploitation of the US-Japan relationship, the US may need to adjust its policy.

Criticizing Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Liu Junhong explains how the repeat ruler’s political missteps have incited fear in the Japanese public and complicated Japan’s relations with the energy sectors of the US and Russia.

Ian Bremmer and David Grodon argue that while the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the US shale revolution have broad implications for China, they are President Obama’s most important foreign policy tools and are not meant to contain China.

Wang Yusheng outlines the opportunities and challenges for the U.S.-China relationship, and asks whether it is possible for the two countries to build a new-type of relationship?