Relations between China and the United States deteriorated during Barack Obama's first term as president after an initially promising start.
The new Japanese cabinet has sent a clear signal to the world that it is determined to escalate regional tensions by encircling China.
The US could cut its defense spending because of the fiscal cliff. But it would be wrong to assume that such a cut will weaken the US military.
The recent mini-deal to help the United States avoid the fiscal cliff is just another timeout. In the next few weeks, a highly divisive showdown is likely to take place in Washington.
If the traffic authorities took full consideration of public opinion during the rule-making process, they may not have been put in such an awkward situation.
Double standards and hypocrisy in the west cost innocent Tibetan lives. Why not encourage people to live positively instead of instigating them to die?
The unresolved issue is how much overshooting of the temperature limits temporarily will be acceptable in the face of continuing reluctance of the rich countries to modify longer-term trends.
Indeed, the banks' good days may not be over immediately, but may not last long, either.
What is crucial now is that the continent's polity is able to envision the gain that will emerge from the pain, and is able to articulate this in a way that pulls them towards their shared future.
State Councillor Dai Bingguo gave an interview to the resident correspondent in Beijing from Press Trust of India.
Mo, a literature devotee, may have felt frustrated as he was submerged by questions on China's freedom of speech or human rights
With increasing numbers of rich Chinese already leaving the country or contemplating doing so, getting all of this right will have to be accomplished sooner, not later.