President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held a meeting, their second since November, on April 22 on the sidelines of the 2015 Asian-African Summit in Jakarta, where Abe vowed to uphold Japan's past apologies for the atrocities his country committed before and during World War II and hoped "very much to improve Japan-China relations".

Yet in his address to the summit earlier on that day, Abe expressed deep remorse over the war led by Japan without mentioning whether he would abide by the statements of his predecessors or offer sincere apologies to the Asian countries that suffered under Japan's "colonial rule and aggression" before and during WWII.

With many countries set to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII, Abe as the leader of a former fascist power will attract close attention when he addresses the US Congress on April 29 and issues a statement in Japan on Aug 15.