Economic  power over the last few years has been shifting. In today's global  market, China and India are playing an increasingly more powerful role.  Other Asian nations are also players on the world stage.

In  today's edition of Keeping An Eye On Asia, we look primarily at what is  happening in China along with a power play by Japan over disputed  islands in the South China Sea as well as the recent Asian-Pacific  Economic Cooperation (APEC) conference.

APEC  this past weekend brought together a number of countries in Asia as  well as Russia which stretches to the Pacific in the northern portion of  the continent. Yahoo News reports that both China and Russia sounded an alarm as the conference  got underway. Both powerhouse nations noted the danger from the  continuing sluggish global economy which could have dire implications  unless the member nations did not forge stronger ties with each other.

Chinese  President Hu Jintao promised to strengthen his nation's economy and  provide a more secure safety net for the 21-member conference. Russian  President Vladmir Putin called for trade barriers between the nations to  be torn down. Putin was also host of the event.

Putin told those in attendance, "It's  important to build bridges, not walls. We must continue striving for  greater integration. The global economy is faltering. We can overcome  the negative trends only by increasing the volume of trade in goods and  services and enhancing the flow of capital."

Hu had this to say, "We  will work to maintain the balance between keeping steady and robust  growth, adjusting the economic structure and managing inflation  expectations."

The Associated Press has an article out detailing how the Chinese economy is slowing and  turning downward while imports shrink. The AP noted that imports  unexpectedly declined in August which signaled the economic slump is  getting worse.

The  Chinese President warned that the growth could continue to slow. He  stated that economic stimulus spending may be in order to stave off the  current trend.

Since  June, the Chinese government has cut interest rates twice. The country  has been pumping money into the economy through infrastructure  construction projects.

The latest brooha over disputed South China Sea islands is between China and Japan, according to The Christian Science Monitor.  The CSM is reporting that a move by Japan to buy the islands from the  "rightful" property owners should determine to which nation the islands  belong. China, however, does not recognize the private ownership of the  islands by Japanese citizens.

Other nations in Southeast Asia also lay claim to the islands and others in the South China Sea.

From  the Cornfield, the interlocking of the US economy with economies around  the world makes it imperative that we are aware of what happens on the  other side of the globe lest we be caught off guard to our detriment.