'Strategic mistrust' in way of better relations

Both Japan and China should face up to the reality that a "lasting strategic mistrust" between them is the major factor behind their divergence and conflicting approaches, a veteran security policy expert told China Daily.

Zhang Tuosheng, director of research and senior fellow at the China Foundation for International Strategic Studies, said the two neighbors have been skeptical of each other when examining the respective growing strength of national defense.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I, and a number of prominent figures in Japan - including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe - have compared the current China-Japan relationship to the one a century ago between Germany and Britain.