The farsightedness shown by the political leaders at that time resulted in the normalization of bilateral ties, as well as the rapid growth in economic ties and trade that have benefited both.

The "future generation" has enjoyed the benefits of their farsightedness: China's nascent opening-up and reform received vital capital help from the Japanese government; while Japan has also benefited from China's rapid development.

But the future generation has so far failed to show the wisdom expected by our predecessors, instead the Japanese government has "nationalized" the Diaoyu Islands and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said he wants to take a more assertive role in Asia and contain China.

At the forum, all clear-minded participants agreed that it will be impossible to find a solution to the territorial dispute any time soon. But they also agreed that confrontation will serve the interests of nobody, and even worse, the ripple effects could damage interests of the whole region.

Xu Dunxin, former Chinese ambassador to Japan, called on the two countries to "go back to the starting point", which lies in the principles and spirit enshrined in the four important documents between the two countries, including the joint statement and treaty of friendship.

The essence of the four documents is learning from history, peaceful coexistence, mutual respect, friendship for generations, and common development.

The strained relations between the two neighbors do not show any signs of improving. At this historical juncture, I really miss and appreciate the wisdom and vision of the late political leaders, the difficulties in the 1970s, characterized by the strong enmity and hostility between the two peoples, was more challenging than the situation we are facing now, yet they managed to overcome them.

If Abe does not have enough wisdom as our predecessors hoped, isn't it a wise choice to go back to the very beginning?

The writer is the News Editor of China Daily. sunshangwu@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 11/04/2013 page8)