Tokyo should act with dignity, consideration and not jump on Washington's bandwagon

As external involvement in Asia-Pacific affairs deepens and broadens, whether major countries in the region can maintain harmonious relations will determine to what extent they can stave off turbulence.

How China and Japan, the world's second- and third-largest economies, choose to coexist under such circumstances, therefore, is without doubt a crucial variable in the local geopolitical equation.

The China-Japan high-level political dialogue, held in Tianjin on Wednesday, was opportune and instrumental in that it gave both governments an opportunity to compare notes on the state of the bilateral relationship and the regional situation.