Dan Rather

It's not often these days that we have good news to talk about in the realm of foreign affairs, but this week brought some from one of the most dangerous regions of the world. No, not the Middle East, which remains a desperate place in desperate times. It is, instead, the Pacific Rim that is giving one reason to believe in the power of diplomacy and the hope for peace.

Headlines about North Korea aside, we probably do not, as a nation, give nearly enough thought to the many ways that this large and loosely defined area could become one of the world's hot spots. But the danger for armed conflict in the Pacific Rim is real, and it is not to be taken lightly. At a U.S.-Chinese conference last year, in fact, your reporter heard a former U.S. ambassador to China agree that if World War III were to break out, this region might be the most likely flashpoint.

The reasons are many. They include a dangerous brew of fierce competition for scarce resources, long-standing territorial disputes, a history of enmity between major powers, and the threat of a full-blown nuclear and conventional arms race. And, lest we imagine that American concern for this region is in any way a solely academic matter, it is worth considering that the Pacific Rim is still home to many tens of thousands of U.S. troops. We are bound by treaty to defend South Korea, Taiwan or Japan if any of them should be attacked.

Hopeful sign

Considering all this, the visit to Japan by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was a hopeful sign. If you were to go down the above list of potential causes for conflict, the Sino-Japanese relationship would fulfil every one.

The two Asian powers disagree over who has the right to tap energy reserves in the East China Sea, and World War II - far from being history - remains in the foreground of their sometimes chilly interactions. China and Japan also stand at the nexus of the arms race feared by long-time observers of this region. China, North Korea's sole ally, has stood against that nation's nuclear ambitions not because it fears what North Korea would do with a nuclear arsenal, but rather what Japan might do in reaction. Beijing, which is in the midst of its own arms build-up, has listened with great wariness to debate in Tokyo over amending Japan's post-war constitution to allow for expanded armed forces and possibly the development of its own nuclear weapons.

Despite all this, China and Japan have plenty of reasons to get along, as China has become Japan's largest trading partner. And though this latest summit between their leaders may have been more symbolic than substantive (talk of a hoped for 'strategic' partnership notwithstanding), this might be a case where symbols are important in their own right. Photo-ops and optimistic talk speak of open lines of communication and, with them, a lessening of the danger that points of tension can develop into something worse.

Such is the essence of diplomacy, and China and Japan are not the only nations who are seeing this neglected art bear fruit along the Pacific Rim. Amid the headlines from Japan came news this past week that North Korea may allow U.N. nuclear inspectors back into the country for the first time since 2000, in response to U.S. concessions on formerly frozen North Korean assets.

While the Middle East seethes with war, it is encouraging that another of the world's volatile regions is taking real steps along the path of peace.