Security assistance is a tangible means of bolstering partner nations’ ability to fend off Chinese maritime coercion. If the U.S. truly seeks to shift its strategic weight to the Asia-Pacific, it must consider ways to rebalance its security assistance programs to enable its maritime Southeast Asian partners, as they defend the front lines.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday he expects talks with China on their South China Sea dispute within a year and he would not raise an international ruling rejecting China's claims there when he attends a regional summit next month.

Amid changes in global political culture and turbulent relations between powers, it is unprecedentedly difficult to create, readjust and implement rules of global governance. Efforts must be made to resist the populist, nativist and nationalist political culture that is expanding and increasing throughout the world so that major-power relations can be stabilized and improved.

It is unlikely that the decision by The Hague on the Philippines case will settle all of these matters. That said, one can envision a path forward, beginning with an immediate freeze on all activities in the disputed territories. That would lower tensions, allowing everyone to take a deep breath.

The arbitral panel had an opportunity to chart a constructive approach to one of the foremost legal questions of the Asia-Pacific. However, where it should have chosen to foster mutually cooperative tendencies on ill-understood provisions of the law, the award performed a disservice with consequences that will reverberate for a considerable time to come.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he will not raise long-simmering maritime disputes with China at a meeting of Southeast Asian nations in Laos next month, preferring to talk quietly with Chinese officials.

Difference and rivalry exist between China and the US, but it is also true that they share common interests and need cooperation. This “rivalry plus cooperation” relationship will continue, despite talk of war that some fear could develop into a self-fulfilling prophesy.

Asia is famous for its multiple civilizations and their core value systems that have guided Asian nations since ancient times. Recent decades have seen China making great contributions to regional economic growth and unity with its peaceful and rapid development. Common development will always be the hallmark of this great region.

Connectivity is a shared interest for China and Southeast Asia, and the Maritime Silk Road represents part of the continuing efforts to highlight this. Southeast Asia is important for China’s neighborhood and periphery diplomacy; hence the management or resolution of regional concerns represents a continuing challenge for Chinese foreign policy.

On August 10-11, Philippine Former President and Special Envoy Fidel V. Ramos met in Hong Kong with his old friends －Madam Fu Ying and Professor Wu Shicun in a friendly atmosphere. They discussed, in their private capacity, the way forward in the spirit of universal brotherhood and sisterhood for peace and cooperation between the two countries.