China and the Philippines have agreed to resume a dialogue on their dispute over the South China Sea, a senior Chinese diplomat said Thursday following talks between the countries' leaders.

When one side is trying its best to make use of a dispute to exert pressure on the other side, it becomes very difficult for either side to see and appreciate common interests. Recent history offers many examples of how shared goals, such as curbing greenhouse gases and cyber crime, can point the way to fruitful cooperation instead of conflict.

President Joko Widodo says he wants to keep this sprawling archipelago out of an intensifying great-power conflict in the South China Sea while he tries to revitalize ambitious economic plans that so far have fallen short.

The rise and posture of the Philippines president is not an unpredictable eruption but the natural evolution of a changing global environment, and the result will be a more balanced and safer regional order.

Track II diplomacy’s results remain mixed, but it takes only one successful attempt to provide concrete and specific agenda items for formal talks. It is within this lens that the Ramos-Fu August 2016 meeting in Hong Kong could be appreciated.

Three months ago, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to the resources in the West Philippine Sea (also known as the South China Sea), and thus that the Philippines has exclusive rights to the territory. China rejected the ruling, and an icy chill overcame the once-friendly bilateral relationship. It is time to bring back some warmth.

Beijing could employ controversial measures to control the disputed airspace over the South China Sea, according to a leading expert with close ties to the Chinese government, as it seeks new ways to assert its authority in the contested region.

Duterte’s abrupt diplomatic and military shift from Washington heartens Beijing, threatens U.S. alliance.

The Chinese position of resolving disputes with a dual-track approach has been accepted by ASEAN countries. The two sides have important common understanding on jointly maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea, and notions that China is trying to split ASEAN and that China is seeking hegemony in the South China Sea have effectively been deflated.

China’s alleged militarization of the South China Sea isn’t supported by the facts, and the US definition of ‘militarization’ defies both common sense and international practice.