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.

All eyes are on the Central Committee’s Third Plenum scheduled to open in Beijing on November 9 for details about China’s economic reforms. As attention focuses on domestic economic development, however, Chinese foreign policy also deserves notice.

As free trade agreements flourish around the globe, He Weiwen examines the developments between the China-ASEAN FTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership noting that while the US and China have been left out of each negotiation respectively, it does not mean the countries are competing directly against each other.

Although the US is firmly established in the region, many Pacific countries are concerned about US stability and consistency in policy. China’s recent confident actions have allowed for relations with ASEAN to grow and may have begun to act to supplant the US role. But do the two powers need to be competing or can they work in tandem?

In the wake of President Xi and Premier Li’s visits to Southeast Asia, China not only underscored its diplomatic commitment to the region but also elevated its partnerships with neighboring countries to more strategic ones. Zhai Kun examines in which ways the new Chinese leadership “upgraded” the China-ASEAN relations.