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.
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.
A Japanese war criminal confessed that he raped dozens of Chinese women during Japan's war of aggression in China, according to archives released Monday.
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.
Yasukuni is controversial for its revisionist interpretation of Japan's wartime history: A view that exonerates rather than atones.
The State Archives Administration on Sunday published the confession of a Japanese war criminal, who participated in Japan's invasion of China from 1940 to 1945.
Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's statement Friday refrained from offering his own apology for Japan's wartime past, drawing criticism worldwide.
A Japanese war criminal confessed to the torture of Chinese prisoners and civilians, and the rape of scores of women over 70 years ago, according to the State Archives Administration.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Saturday morning sent a ritual offering to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo on the 70th anniversary of Japan' s unconditional surrender in World War II.
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.