Not long ago, China, Japan and the ROK finally got their foreign ministers together in Tokyo. The foreign ministers’ meeting naturally had an important mission, and the opportunity it created may, to a considerable extent, reshape the relations among the three countries.

As both China and the U.S. play critical roles in reshaping global governance, there is a need for a new concept of “order” that is all inclusive and can accommodate the interests and concerns of all countries, providing a common roof for all.

In early July, South Korea decided to allow the United States to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. At the heart of this issue is the difference in how China and the United States view the role of South Korea and decisions related to the security and stability of the peninsula.

The United States and China perceive the South China Sea issue in starkly different terms.

From the time President Obama assumed office in 2009 to the present, positive U.S.-China relations have been vital to the two countries and to the world at large. Forty-four years after establishing diplomatic relations, the world’s two greatest economic powers have forged unprecedentedly close ties. Unsurprisingly, the current relationship reflects varying degrees of cooperation as well as competition.

China is South Sudan’s last best hope. Given the interminable bloodletting and brutal fratricide that engulfs Africa’s youngest nation, and given the inability of the African Union and United States to broker an effective peace, intervention and assistance by China may provide South Sudan with its only viable lifeline.

Amid changes in global political culture and turbulent relations between powers, it is unprecedentedly difficult to create, readjust and implement rules of global governance. Efforts must be made to resist the populist, nativist and nationalist political culture that is expanding and increasing throughout the world so that major-power relations can be stabilized and improved.

It is unlikely that the decision by The Hague on the Philippines case will settle all of these matters. That said, one can envision a path forward, beginning with an immediate freeze on all activities in the disputed territories. That would lower tensions, allowing everyone to take a deep breath.

The arbitral panel had an opportunity to chart a constructive approach to one of the foremost legal questions of the Asia-Pacific. However, where it should have chosen to foster mutually cooperative tendencies on ill-understood provisions of the law, the award performed a disservice with consequences that will reverberate for a considerable time to come.

Difference and rivalry exist between China and the US, but it is also true that they share common interests and need cooperation. This “rivalry plus cooperation” relationship will continue, despite talk of war that some fear could develop into a self-fulfilling prophesy.