Events commemorating the 70th anniversary of victory will be opportunities for China to demonstrate its determination to safeguard peace and promote development in the world, unswervingly pursue peaceful development and strengthen mutual trust with wartime allies, including the US.

China is emerging as a much stronger player in the Central Asian region, with the support of Russian resources. Central Asian states may exploit this Sino-Russian rapprochement in order to advance their own goals, receiving security and funding from Moscow and Beijing, while not being required to change political regimes.

The 70th anniversary of WWII is a good time to reflect on global governance and progress in ending colonialism, while promoting peace. More nations need to observe the basic norms of the World Charter, the institutional structures must be adapted to new threats, and representation by smaller nations must be more equal.

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.

President Xi Jinping’s visit has deepened China-Russia strategic mutual trust. That improves Eurasian cooperation and boosts the preservation and reform of the post-war international order, making it fairer and more just.

The significance of President Xi Jinping attending the May 9th Victory Day celebration in Moscow, has much to do with the role Japan has been playing in deteriorating the East Asian security. The Chinese government seeks to reinforce the negative harm that fascism inflicted on during WWII, and also further support its economic ties with Russia.

70 years after the end of WWII, the ghost of historical conflict still haunts international relationships in East Asia. Historic consciousness, particularly regarding the sense of humiliation relating to the war experience, has been the crux of the nationalism experienced by these nations in East Asia, and used by elites as tools for political mobilization and other purposes. People must understand the importance the role of history education and social narrative play in international relations.

Abe must understand – and the U.S. should exert pressure on him – that the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II is prime time for him to profoundly reflect on Japan’s wartime crimes. If Abe goes too far in the wrong direction, there will be no peace in the Asia-Pacific and the hard-won beginning of a Sino-Japanese détente may vanish.

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi recently presided over a discussion on international security at the UN in New York. The principle of unity and multilateral cooperation, the basis of the original UN Charter, was the foreground to China’s continued calls for cooperation on investments, terrorism, and military trust mechanisms.

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the WWII in the Pacific, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe plans to make a statement of apology, which is already drawing concerns from the international community. Abe’s denials and changes to historical accounts mean that an “Abe Statement” could turn out to be a declaration on Abe’s “proactive pacifism” rather than a statement on Japan’s remorse and apology.