In the current Diaoyu Islands dispute, Japan has avoided talking about the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration, which set the world order after World War II.

But meanwhile, it resorted to the Treaty of San Francisco signed in 1951, claiming that the Diaoyu Islands are not included in the territory that article two of the treaty requires Japan to renounce. It claimed that the Diaoyu Islands fit under article three of the treaty, covering areas under the administration of the US, while the US returned the islands to Japan under the Return of Okinawa Agreement.

The Treaty of San Francisco will not help Japan. It is widely known that this treaty was signed amid the Cold War between Japan and the Western allies of World War II. It excluded the Soviet Union and China, which had contributed greatly to victory in the war.

Many parts of the treaty did not accord with the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Declaration. China has stated clearly that the Treaty of San Francisco is illegal and invalid.

Next, even according to the Treaty of San Francisco, we can hardly draw the conclusion that the Diaoyu Islands belong to Japan. Article two of the treaty states that "Japan renounces all right, title and claim to Formosa and the Pescadores." Here Formosa definitely included the Diaoyu Islands.

Meanwhile, article three only roughly mentioned that the areas considered part of Japan were south of 29 degree north latitude. It didn't mention the Diaoyu Islands specifically.

In 1971 when the US "returned" the "administrative power" of the islands to Japan, it publicly announced that it took no side in the territorial dispute over the islands between China and Japan.

In recent years, the US repeatedly made it clear that what it returned was administrative power and it took no stance on the issue of the ownership of the islands.

Recently, Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba wrote in the Spanish magazine Figaro that Japan is a responsible country.

But how can people believe that a country, which stole another country's territory and did not return it, and which shows no respect to international declarations and uses disputes to stir up the whole Asia-Pacific region, is a responsible one?

If Japan wants to win respect from the international community and trust from its neighbors, it should face up its past deeds and correct its own behavior.

The author is a commentator with the People's Daily. The article is the fourth in a series on the Diaoyu Islands originally published in the People's Daily. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn