Could the China-Japan relationship get worse? My answer is No.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the Bandung Conference on April 22. This was the latest sign of a further thawing of tension between the two countries since they met briefly, and awkwardly, on November 10, 2014 during the APEC meeting in Beijing.

Currently there are still working-level contacts between the two governments. Many channels for dialogues and consultations have remained open.

At the non-government level, anti-Japan sentiment in China has been greatly reduced. In 2014, 2.409 million Chinese visited Japan, exceeding the 2 million mark for the first time in history. In February 2015, Chinese visitors swarmed into Japan during the Spring Festival holidays. A Japanese TV station estimated the number of Chinese visitors at over 450,000 and they spent roughly 6 billion yuan ($945 million) during the 10-day period. A Hong Kong newspaper commented that to some extent, Chinese visitors were contributing to boosting Japan's economy and to justifying Abenomics.

But then there is another question: Could the China-Japan ties be improved greatly in the near future?

Not likely, for the following reasons.

First, there will be no easy and quick solutions to the issues that have caused Sino-Japanese diplomatic troubles, which are mainly historical and territorial disputes. When he spoke at the recent Jakarta summit, Abe expressed only Japan's "deep remorse" over its atrocities during WWII, without issuing a direct apology. This was a retreat from the Murayama Statement, in which former Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama expressed his "heartfelt apology" for Japan's "colonial rule and aggression in Asia". This reminded me of a recent commentary on the Chinese edition of the Global Times headlined "If Mr Abe doesn't respect history, how could he win the trust from the world community?" Also in its 2015 Diplomatic Bluebook, Japan made aggressive territorial claims over the disputed islands in the East China Sea. The claims were severely criticized by China and South Korea.

Second, the China policy adopted by the Abe administration has been regarded as confrontational. Abe is an enthusiastic advocate of the "China threat theory" and the designer of the "arc of freedom and democracy."

Then there are the international factors, mainly the US role in Sino-Japanese relations. China is seriously concerned about the US-Japan alliance. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said, "It is our constant stance that the US and Japan are responsible to ensure that their bilateral alliance does not jeopardize a third party's interests including China's, nor undermine peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific." The newly revised US-Japan Joint Defense Guidelines are believed to target China, at least partly. To some extent, Japan is a proxy of the US in the Asia Pacific region.

Last, my personal observation as a journalist: Under the new Chinese leadership, China has adopted a grand diplomacy strategy, with the new model of great power relations and the "One Belt, One Road" initiative as the core focal points. It is justifiable to say that currently Japan's importance in China's new diplomatic thinking has greatly reduced. It is believed that Japan has been marginalized in China's grand diplomacy strategy, although this argument is open to debate.

Currently, there are several issues that are closely linked to Sino-Japanese relations.

First, Japan is trying to revise its pacifist constitution, especially Clause 9. 

Second, Japan is making great efforts to become a permanent UN Security Council member and China has justifiable concerns about it. For one thing, permanent Security Council membership would encourage Japanese military and political assertiveness. And also China worries about the prospect of US-Japan cooperation on the UN Security Council.

Third, how will Japan react to the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the victory in WWII? What attitude will Japan take on the event? If China officially invites Japanese leaders to participate in a grand parade to mark the event, will Abe accept the invitation?

Fourth, there is Japan's attitude toward AIIB. China's Ministry of Finance confirmed that by April 15, 57 countries have been confirmed as the founding member of the China-initiated Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Unfortunately, Japan is not among the 57 countries. Japan might miss the opportunities that the AIIB can provide if it is not a founding member.

So how could China and Japan develop ways to manage an often volatile relationship?

First, China and Japan have a convergence of common interests. Policymakers in both countries should take this into consideration.  A good bilateral relationship will do good to both countries as well as the Asia-Pacific region.

Second, the two countries should try to solve bilateral issues without external interference.

Third, during the latest Xi-Abe meeting, Xi stressed the need to strictly follow the spirit of the four political joint statements reached between China and Japan so as to ensure bilateral relations develop on the right track. Of the four documents, the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Communiqué deserves special attention. In this joint communiqué, Article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation is mentioned. However, Japan's "Diplomatic Bluebook for 2015" defines what China called the Diaoyu Islands as Japan's territory. This claim is contradictory to both historical fact and article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation.

Fourth, the year 2015 marks the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII, that is, the 70th anniversary of the world's anti-fascist war. In this context, Japan should respect and follow the Clause 6 of the Potsdam Proclamation and one important clause in its Instrument of Surrender signed on September 2, 1945. 

Fifth, Japan should respond properly to China's re-emergence as a regional power and accept the reality that there are currently two regional powers in Northeast Asia. China is seeking its "rightful place" in this region.

Last but not least, as the territorial disputes between the two countries could not be solved in the foreseeable future, joint efforts should be made for crisis management in the East China Sea, including crisis avoidance/prevention and crisis control.

I would also like to focus and elaborate on the root cause of the current China-Japan diplomatic tensions. In my opinion, the root cause is the competition for dominance in this region, or what I call as "shift of power."

China is the No.2 economy in the world now. No matter if it is a fragile power as Susan Shirk terms it, or it is a partial power as David Shambaugh calls it, it is definitely a regional power. For the first time in history, both Japan and China are regional powers at the same period of time. Previously, the tenor of their relationship was linked to the rise of one and the fall of the other. Today, however, both are economic powerhouses with extensive international ties and the military strength of great powers.

An old Chinese proverb goes that no two rival tigers can exist in the same mountain. However, China's rapid growth in economic, political and military terms has made it such a tiger. This tiger will have to co-exist with an existing tiger for quite a long time to come. Japan will have to accept this reality and learn to co-exist in a peaceful manner with China.

China had suffered what is called the humiliation of a hundred years, so the Chinese people will not accept permanent military and technological inferiority, especially in Asia, vis-a-vis Japan and other great powers.  China needs to enjoy its rightful place in Asia as well as in the world.

The author is deputy editor of the Global Times. The article is based on a speech he made at a penal discussion session on Sino-Japanese relations during the Asan Plenum 2015 entitled "Is the U.S. Back?" held from April 28 to 29 in Seoul, Republic of Korea. chenping@globaltimes.com.cn