We hope that the Japanese government will listen carefully to the righteous appeals at home, heed the lessons from its infamous past, and adhere to the path of pacifist development.
Sino-Japanese relations have soured to such an extent that they will not get any worse no matter how Abe's absence is explained and construed.
The "normal country" that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to make Japan will actually not be normal, because of his focus on military power.
Let us hope, therefore, that traditional caution and the simple human sense of self-preservation may yet reassert itself in both Tokyo and Washington.
China was a major base for many Korean exiles who were forced to leave their homeland after Japan occupied the then undivided Korea in 1910.
Japan wants to fill the power vacuum left by the United States as it loses its hegemony and play a more assertive role in regional security.
Abe's ambiguous remarks on Friday in his speech to commemorate Japan's defeat in World War II reflect an elusive attitude toward core issues and his lack of sincere repentance for wartime crimes.
Yasukuni is controversial for its revisionist interpretation of Japan's wartime history: A view that exonerates rather than atones.
It is still too early to say whether Abe means his words or not, but his verbally confusing statement will undoubtedly provoke criticism about why he refused to make a proper apology.
The best way for Asian neighbors to rectify Japan's distorted historical views and let it reflect deeply on its war crimes is to unite together and develop themselves into stronger peace-loving countries than Japan.
After flying his kite for months, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe issued a statement about Japanese aggression in World War II with phrases that had rarely appeared in his narratives of his country's war history.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's statement to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII may mention Japan's wartime crimes, which Italian experts wish will be a clear apology and become a touchstone for future relations with neighbors China and South Korea.