Despite numerous domestic challenges, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has his eyes on Japan’s strategic future. And it’s not all about China.

The DPJ missed a chance to transform how Japan is governed, says Tobias Harris in the third in our series of end of year interviews.

An alleged halt in rare earth element exports to Japan put world governments on notice. Did China push too hard, too fast?

This week’s Asia-Europe Meeting would be an excellent place for the two to launch a new initiative—tackling chemical weapons.

Japan wasn’t blameless in the recent spat. But Beijing must understand that great powers sometimes need to show restraint.

Failure to manage the row over a detained ship captain could mean both countries lose out over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.

The Diplomat speaks with Caroline Rose, author of ‘Sino-Japanese Relations: Facing the Past, Looking to the Future?’ about Sino-Japanese ties, the US-Japan alliance and the prospects for an East Asia Community.

By the second quarter of this century, Asia will be the centre of gravity of the world economy and China will be leading the world. But while the US used ‘democracy’ as its defining diplomatic principle in the 20th century, the big question is–what will China use?