The Hangzhou summit again shows the importance of top-level dialogue. It is undoubtedly helpful to calm the volatile situation between China and the US and to create room for both sides to review policies on many issues.

On the eve of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s official visit to Ottawa, the Globe and Mail reported that Canada and China had agreed to begin negotiations on an extradition treaty.

September’s global summits saw the U.S. and China agreeing to abide by the Paris Accord on limiting emission of greenhouse gases, an influential and important step in encouraging others to follow their lead. On other issues, the two countries took divergent paths.

Since North Korea conducts nuclear tests frequently and countries like the U.S., Japan, South Korea have strengthened their military deployments in and around the Korean Peninsula, China is facing unprecedented difficulties and challenges there.

Standing at what President Xi Jinping calls a “historical new starting line”, China is deepening its involvement in G20 affairs and global governance. Despite geopolitical differences and divisions, major powers have been able to come together under the banner of the G20, with China playing a unifying role.

To solve the misperceptions the Philippines and China have toward the other’s intentions in the South China Sea, both sides should be more open to understanding the rationale of each other’s actions and behavior, commit to non-militarization of the disputed areas while refraining from using confrontational rhetoric, and not force each other’s red lines in public so as to avoid either party from losing face.

The two governments have been rather successful in managing their differences and avoiding possible crises, and they have the determination and the ability to continue safeguarding the overall China-US relationship. In the new normal, both sides need to direct their efforts at clearly explaining to their people the strategic intent of no conflict and no confrontation as well as their willingness to cooperate.

Has the Arbitral Tribunal decision on the South China Sea been misconstrued by main stream U.S. media? Don M. Tow explores the legality of the Permanent Court of Arbitration Ruling, as well as the geopolitical motivations behind it, concluding that the U.S. is responsible for creating unnecessary conflicts with China and destabilizing peace in Asia, as well as the whole world.

The death of President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan could engender major changes in the Sino-Russian relationship in Central Asia, despite Beijing and Moscow maintaining a harmonious, if not especially close, partnership in the region for years.

If the U.S. and China’s stated goals in both the G20 and the EAS hold true, Southeast Asian countries stand to benefit greatly. As is readily apparent in Myanmar, countries in the region no longer desire to be pawns in a geopolitical economic game, but rather collaborative partners to ensure fair benefits.