The May 21 Sino-Russian gas deal has been long expected, but it took Chinese and Russian negotiators more than a decade to overcome their differences on the issue, which reflecting diverging price expectations. In the end, the parties stuck to their winning formula of China’s providing Russian firms with the money they need in advance to develop new energy supplies and transport them to China through guaranteed long-term contracts. The United States has minimal influence over both countries’ energy policies and will need to work with regional partners, including China, to encourage price competition, competition, and transparency.

Europe’s right-wing protest seeks independence domestically, distance from the US, rapprochement with Russia and new balance with China.

For China and the US, besides economic cooperation, there should be cooperation on many issues, including issues such as disaster warning and relief, anti-piracy and environmental protection, writes Su Xiaohui.

Zhang Zhixin lays out three reasons why the Obama administration’s rebalance to the Asia-Pacific and attempts to contain China, especially through the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, are a move in the wrong direction and will only hurt bilateral ties.

After last week’s announcement that Russia and China finally signed a 30-year natural gas pipeline agreement valued at $400 billion, Michal Meidan analyses the geopolitical implications of this deal and how it could affect global energy markets and the U.S. presence in Asia over the next few years.

As John Ciorciari and Jessica Chen Weiss explain, relations between China and Vietnam have plummeted to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War following a row over disputed territory in the South China Sea.

The 30-year, $400 billion gas contract, signed between Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom and China during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Shanghai to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and to participate in the CICA summit, signals a new partnership between the two nations.

At the fourth CICA Summit in Shanghai, China proposed a security concept for Asia in an attempt to shape a common Asian awareness and collective Asian security acceptable for all Asian countries, writes Shen Dingli.

Having concluded the fourth summit on Confidence Building in Asia, CICA will play an increasingly important role in promoting peace, development and cooperation in Asia, writes Wu Zurong.

Beijing’s recent warning that Pyongyang not conduct another nuclear test will likely prove as ineffectual as previous warnings, writes Ted Galen Carpenter. Without huge incentives, which Washington has yet to offer, Beijing is unwilling to employ harsh measures to ensure North Korean compliance due to the risks entailed in such a drastic policy change.