In his speech at CSIS, Abe said to Armitage who was present: "Japan is not and will never be a tier-two country." And he cried out "I am back… and so shall Japan be."

Will the world's people allow Japanese militarism stage a comeback?

The good news is that war is not generally recognized as an option. China has always stressed its peaceful rise. President Obama, in his second term, declared "a decade of war is now ending" (except his drone war). Only Japan wants to retain its war fighting "privileges."

In a recent article published in The New York Times, Zbigniew Brzezinsky declared "I do not believe that wars for global domination are a serious prospect in what is now the Post-Hegemonic Age." He cited nuclear weapons as making wars too destructive and victory meaningless. And one-sided national economic triumphs cannot be achieved. It is to his credit that he also mentioned the awakening of the world's people who are now not so easily subdued. Lastly, he made the point that neither the United States nor China is driven by hostile ideologies. (How about the U.S. trying to promote "democracy?")

To restore a stable trilateral relationship, the obvious answer is mutual respect for each other's core interests and some kind of mechanism to avoid conflicts getting out of control. At the end of the day, they need to establish a new-type of relationship that is neither antagonistic, nor hostile but mutually respectful and mutually beneficial, so that every nation wins.

For starters, the dispute over Diaoyu Islands should be winding down through diplomatic negotiations and renunciation of force. The first step is for Japan to acknowledge that there are indeed differences to be settled.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.shenbo75.com/opinion/zhaojinglun.htm

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn