U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Japan brought forth renewed utterances of support of their bilateral security treaty, but the new Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama appears determined to make it a more equal alliance.

This week, Barack Obama will make his first visit to Southeast Asia since becoming president of the United States, confirming a new direction in American foreign policy.

U.S. President Barack Obama begins an Asian trip next week that will take him to Japan, Singapore, China and South Korea. This is a welcome sign of a renewed American emphasis on East Asia.

President Ma Ying-jeou, in his first interview after taking on the chairmanship of the ruling Nationalist Party, or Kuomintang, again urged China to scrap the positioning of missiles along its coast aimed at the island.

China, Japan and South Korea this month held their 10th trilateral summit meeting, this time in Beijing, and reiterated their determination to move towards regional integration even though it is clear that bilateral problems remain, in particular between China and Japan.

It seems that almost every week brings new signs of China's rise, with a commensurate increase in its international influence and soft power as well as in its economic, political and military clout.

By almost any measure, the 60th anniversary celebrations held in Beijing on October 1 were a tremendous success, showcasing the country's military prowess and its economic and cultural advances and highlighting the ethnic diversity of the country.

More than three decades after China adopted a policy of “reform and opening up,” it continues to be almost as opaque as ever where political decision-making processes are concerned.

Barack Obama made history last year when he became the first African-American to be elected president of the United States.

Ever since the 1950s, China has subscribed to the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of other countries, which was first written into a treaty that it signed with India in 1954.