'Contradictory remarks show his lack of sincerity toward Beijing'

The brief opening of an Asian security summit in Singapore on Friday was just like the city state's tropical and capricious weather, especially when panelists or reporters touched on deadlocked Sino-Japanese ties.

The face-off between the two countries peaked when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave a curtain-raising speech in which he continued to use coded language to criticize Beijing for tension in the region. He also sought a bigger global security role for Japan.