Eric Hagt and Chen Yali, World Security Institute China Program, writes: “China is a rising power, and the paramount task of both China and the United States is to adjust to that impending reality ­ in terms of economic and trade relations, but also in terms of Taiwan and the two nations’ strategic policies. A heavy responsibility falls on China to assure the region and the world that its rise won’t constitute a threat to others; that it is a force for stability rather than a revisionist power ? On the other hand, the United States must deeply reflect on its own policies toward China, as the latter evolves as a regional and potential world power.”

Frank Barnaby, Nuclear Issues Consultant to Oxford Research Group (ORG), and Shaun Burnie, Coordinator of Greenpeace International nuclear campaigns, write: “Treat nothing as inevitable is a good principle to live one’s life by. Unfortunately, in the case of Japan’s nuclear development, it may not be sufficient. The international community – read governments – will learn to live with Japanese nuclear weapons if that occasion arises. The consequences would of course be terrible for Northeast Asia. Pressure in South Korea to respond would be huge, relations with China could become disastrous, and the global nuclear non-proliferation regime centred around the NPT reduced to a historical footnote.”

This report by CSIS Pacific Forum collects the results of the forum’s Young Leaders Program which seeks to, “bring talented young professionals, working on the particular subjects of our meetings, to the table to enrich our discussions and to provide them with the opportunity to acquire on-the-job training and exposure to individuals and ideas that they might only otherwise encounter in books.”

South Korea President Roh Moo-hyun delivered this speech on the 60th anniversary of Korean liberation. President Roh said: “History now gives us another calling. It is none other than putting an end to the history of divisiveness and opening an age of national unity. It is also to build a springboard to overcome the age of national division and usher in a new age of national unification for peace and prosperity.”