The United States has a huge and growing stake in the Asia-Pacific region, one that offers great promise for the American economy through trade and investment but one that also poses some of the greatest foreign policy and diplomatic challenges.

The US' relations with each nation in the region are important and require tailored care, but no bilateral relationship will be successful if Washington fails to handle its relations with Beijing wisely. The greatest challenges facing this relationship - deficit of trust, regional tension over territorial disputes as well as US and Chinese domestic hurdles - have implications well beyond the bilateral aspects.

Washington's Asia-Pacific policy should have at its core upholding the stability and rules-bound system that have delivered growing success for small and large powers alike for decades while accommodating the re-emergence of China as an increasingly important power with a voice in regional and global affairs.