Shinzo Abe finally delivered his speech commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II on August 14. Though the speech did include the “four key words” – “apology”, “remorse”, “aggression” and “colonial rule”, it failed to present a correct outlook on history.

Though 34 African countries are signatories to the Rome Statute, the continent now generally sees the ICC as a political organ that has “deviated from its original purpose”, exercising double standards and “only targeting African countries for case investigation and conviction”. The US exempts itself but demands compliance from the rest of the world.

A changing world requires China to take a clearer, more comprehensive approach to its national security. It strikes a balance between maintaining national security and promoting socioeconomic development, between internal and external security, between the security of territory and people, between traditional security and non-traditional security, and between security of a single country and that of all countries.

East Asia has avoided major military conflicts since the 1970’s. It is owing to the maturity and good sense of most of the states of the region, their emphasis on economic growth over settling scores, and the American alliances and security presence that have deterred military action and provided comfort to most peoples and states. But above all else, it is due to the reconciliation of the Asia-Pacific’s major powers, the United States and China.

Beijing’s celebration of the 70th anniversary of the end of world war is meant to project China as a peace-loving country determined to prevent such trauma from happening again. If the rise of China is the most important event in the 21 century, the message from the Tian’anmen Square parade is clear: The PLA can help to make the world a safer place.

With US-Japan military cooperation as its main pillar, the deepening US military involvement in Asia goes against the world tide of peace and development, and against the will of the Asian people. The American government would do well to study the lessons of history as it cements its partnership with Tokyo.

"Albert Speer's Grandson Addresses Joint Session Of Congress." Can you imagine that headline? I can't either, particularly if Speer's grandson had devoted much of his life to rehabilitating his grandfather's image, was on record as being sympathetic to Holocaust deniers and had used his political base among Germany's neo-Nazis as the springboard to secure the prime ministership.

Compared with the 2010 National Security Strategy, the tone of U.S. policy toward China policy expressed more strategic concern on territorial disputes, military modernization, democracy and human rights, and cyber-security. Obama also has lambasted China for not “following the rules,” and China-U.S. relations could enter into a new stage of regular competition to define international rules.

It has been argued that China has benefitted from U.S. sanctions in Iran, and will lose out in the case of a U.S.-Iran détente. Yet hostility has already severely undermined China’s economic relations with Iran, and though China and the U.S. do share the same security concerns over Iran’s nuclear program, they have different ideas for solutions.

Ramses Amer compares the diplomatic views and policies of the U.S. with those of China to shed light on the future their interaction. Wide differences exist in their justification for the use of force in inter-state relations; an unlikely but cooperative solution would be for the U.S. to conform more to the UN Charter and principle of non-interference, as China has.