U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s whirlwind tour of China this week saw a tense exchange with his Chinese counterpart, Chang Wanquan, over the intention behind America’s “pivot” to Asia, followed by a more measured back-and-forth with President Xi Jinping. Reactions to the visit have run the gamut, from fearful—that the U.S. is not ready for an unlikely but possible Chinese invasion of Japan—to reassuring, that China’s leaders are not being swayed by a nationful of “raging nationalists.” We asked contributors to assess, essentially, how great are the risks in current relations between China, Japan and the United States?—The Editors