Thaw in Sino-Japanese ties can benefit whole region

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, and as there has been a thawing of bilateral relations recently, Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday that he will consider paying an official visit to Japan while attending the China-Japan-ROK leaders' meeting planned for the first half of this year.

Li's remarks, made while speaking at a news conference after the annual session of China's top legislature concluded, is recognition that spring has arrived after a long winter of discontent between the two neighbors in which ties were frozen.

Since last year, there have been several positive developments signaling the two neighbors are hoping to break the ice between them. But to be frank, the responsibility for plunging bilateral ties to such a low level does not lie with China, and, so far, Japan has said a lot but delivered very little in the way of concrete efforts to put bilateral ties back onto the right track again.