Chen Xiangyang presents a comprehensive overview of the successful highlights of Chinese diplomacy in 2014, focusing on: 1) Xi’s refreshing diplomatic strategies; 2) diplomatic progress with major countries; 3) periphery diplomacy’s steady progress in both crisis control and rights preservation; 4) proactive “home court diplomacy”; 5) economic diplomacy; and 6) its role as a “responsible major country” in dealing with global challenges.

Given recent territorial moves by China, as well as heightened aggressive rhetoric, Curtis Chin analyzes the parallels between China currently and Japan as it existed in the past. Additionally, Chin asserts that the world’s powers should work to lower tensions so that peace and prosperity can exist in the Asia-Pacific region.

While praising the success of Shanghai’s CICA summit and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s New Asian Security Concept, Wu Sike criticizes the U.S. media and U.S. government officials, including the Department of Justice, for holding an undisguised bias against China.

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.

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.

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.

Li Shaoxian writes that three decades after the inaugural Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), the forum now has 24 member states with 13 observers and serves as Asia’s voice on major regional and international issues.

In order for the United States to continue to play a role in the Asia-Pacific, it must listen to the desires and grievances of other Asian. This can be done by becoming an active listener at the upcoming CICA Summit and adjusting US policies according to the desires of Asian nations.