The US views China as a key to developing a peaceful, prosperous, and secure Asia-Pacific in the 21st century, therefore, building a healthy, stable, reliable, and continuous military-to-military relationship with China is of great significance.

Despite rising tensions in the South China Sea, conflict can and should be averted. A good first step would be to acknowledge that the South China Sea is part global good, part sovereign territory. Through greater dialogue, trust-building and transparency, informal rules of the sea can accommodate both a rising China and a strong America.

The Asia-Pacific region is very dynamic and fast changing, not only in economic terms but also in security terms. Three recent developments will have profound implication on regional security.

Clinton’s ongoing visit to the Asia-Pacific brings nothing new. It’s just another round of furtherance of the so-called “Asia pivot” strategy, which, along with smart power, will be the two legacies left by this most diligent Secretary of Sate in the US history, since she will quit her job whether Obama is president or not the next year.

Considering the dominant position that the US alliance system has enjoyed in regional Asian security affairs, Asia-Pacific division can be expected, which will be a disaster not only for China, but also for the US, its regional allies and the world as a whole.

Conflicting signals sent by the US regarding the South China Sea territorial disputes have served to heighten distrust between the US and China ahead of Defense Secretary Panetta’s upcoming visit to China. Although unlikely to produce concrete results, these high level visits serve to clarify intentions and alleviate strategic distrust between China and the US.

During his visit to Vietnam in early June, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta displayed eagerness to have the U.S. military return to the bases it once occu

Despite three decades worth of effort in political, economic, social, cultural, and even military exchanges, the strategic mutual trust between China and the United States has not increased as significantly as expected. On the contrary, the past several years have witnessed an increase of "strategic deficit." An outdated, arrogant, and narrow-minded mentality characterized by "zero-sum" and "Cold War" still haunts their bilateral relations.

A highlight of the recent China-Japan-ROK summit was an agreement by the three neighbors to kick off free trade zone talks as soon as possible. The initiative i

Speaker: Dr.Bates Gill, expert on Chinese foreign policy and the current director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Date: June, 2012 Summ