On the chessboard of the South China Sea, spectators have turned into players and the game is expanding, writes Zhai Kun.

Can a market-based plan for energy infrastructure provide peace and prosperity in the South China Sea? Stewart Taggart, a former financial journalist, examines recent tensions and describes how creating Joint Development Areas could boost cooperation and mutual trust.

Regional tensions in Asia have precipitously increased as disputes in the South China Sea continue to grow. While Zhai Kun notes that the current escalation is controllable, future conflicts cannot be ruled out.

Shao analyzes the US’ “New Silk Road Initiative” and China’s “Silk Road Economic Belt,”and concludes that though having differences, they go in the same direction: acceleration of regional economic cooperation.

Following the first year of the new Chinese leadership’s time in power, Zhai Kun examines why tensions in the Asia-Pacific continue to increase and what can be done to promote regional stability and development without endangering the current US-China relationship.

To debunk the “String of Pearls” theory, Zhou Bo writes that China has only two purposes in the Indian Ocean: economic gains and the security of Sea lines of Communication.

In the past year, China’s new administration has taken steps to improve regional ties in Asia by perusing an active peripheral diplomatic strategy. The multiple visits by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang demonstrate this. Chen Jimin explains three reasons why China is choosing to explore this strategy.

The conference on diplomacy with neighboring countries signaled a new era for proactive interaction between China and its neighbors, writes Chen Xiangyang.

China’s rapid rise to power has caught the attention of the world. China’s new diplomatic strategy of extending “olive branches” has some states worried and others intrigued. Can a balance be found between China’s national interests, the US pivot to Asia and the interests of regional actors such as ASEAN or Japan?

Xi Jinping has launched a new era of periphery diplomacy and will make for better political and economic relations with neighboring countries, closer security cooperation and stronger people-to-people contact.