This weekend's Xi-Obama talks should mark the United States’ true "pivot" to Asia, writes Wesley Clark, the retired Army general and former supreme allied commander of NATO, in The Washington Post. China is a rising power, its $8 trillion economy is second only to the United States' and it is growing almost three times faster. China's leaders look at U.S. unemployment, slow growth and indebtedness and see a declining economic superpower. The Chinese want their due, and they are growing impatient. And yet top Chinese officials don’t seem to understand the United States. That needs to change.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Mongolia in March further deepened good bilateral relations. The first Japanese prime minister to visit since Junichiro Koizumi in 2006, Abe formed consensus with Mongolia on new frameworks for economic cooperation such as encouraging Japanese investment in developing coal, rare earths and other resources. Japan, which is the biggest provider of assistance to Mongolia, needs to make efficient use of official development assistance (ODA) for resource development and spur Japanese companies to invest in Mongolia. This is very important for revitalizing Japan's economy.