The summit, that brought together 50 heads of state, along with a range of US and African civil society and business leaders, is being seen as Washington's attempt to challenge China's status in Africa. Obama denied that the United States intends to compete with China for influence in Africa, however, he said that the relationship between the United States and China is not a zero-sum game.

Climate change is an area that should ultimately bring the two nations closer together even more than cooperation on energy. If the world’s two largest economies, and two most powerful nations, can’t come together to address this very real threat to human civilization, then what can they achieve together? 

While China and the United States have generally competed for influence in Africa, a new Chinese proposal might be looking to change that competition into greater cooperation, particularly in the area of international development.  China has invited the United States to cooperate bilaterally on international development aid in Africa. 

Sinology conferences are usually lacklustre affairs where scholars talk about anything from burial rituals in the Han dynasty to Tang poetry. However, a recent European sinology conference in Portugal has turned into a completely scandalous event thanks to some Chinese officials.

Today, China faces two difficult options: On one hand, it can keep on pushing its territorial claims at the expense of regional stability and goodwill, appeasing nationalist elements back home. Alternatively, it can rein in hardline factions, sign up to a legally-binding Code of Conduct (CoC) in the West Philippine Sea, and emerge as a legitimate contender for regional leadership in the coming decades.

Korea and China have maintained a close relationship since 1992, when they reestablished diplomatic ties that had been severed after the Communists came to power in Beijing in 1949.  Historical and cultural bonds over two millennia underlie their ties, which are evolving into a more mature, substantive and multidimensional partnership based on their growing geopolitical and economic interdependence.

It is an established fact that despite the mammoth assistance, both military and economic, the US has failed miserably to achieve its objective of winning hearts and minds here. In contrast, China is perceived by the general public as a trustworthy and long-standing ally even though the aid and loans provided by China are nothing close to that given by the US.