Although with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine on Dec. 26, he was able to achieve his political aim of visiting the shrine during the same year he was elected, the visit worsened already strained Sino-Japanese relations and affected the international environment for Chinese economic growth.

As Chinese ancient philosopher Guanzi said: "It is good timing for a country to become a power if its domestic governance is effective and its neighbors are brutal." Abe's flagrant Japanese militarism is an asset for Chinese diplomatic strategy.

Abe's shrine visit resulted in outcries from South Koreans and Chinese as well as criticism from Russia, the European Union, United Nations, Great Britain, Philippines and Indonesia. Even the United States, which had never taken sides on Japanese leaders' shrine visits before, also expressed its "disappointment" through the U.S. embassy in Tokyo. This widespread condemnation is an opportunity for China to encourage the international community to isolate Abe's administration.

Abe's stubbornness is a chance for China to focus its interests. In the past, China just encouraged Japanese leaders not to visit the Yasukuni Shrine. It had not worked to correct the incorrect view of history in Japanese society. Since Abe came into power, the rightist force has grown sharply and gradually become a leading opinion in Japan. A poll carried out by Jiji News Agency at the beginning of 2013 showed that 56.7 percent of the population supported Abe's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine. Because the Japanese government has never voluntarily criticized the crimes carried out by militarists during the Second World War, many Japanese born after WWII do not know the truths of history. The popular view among young and middle-aged Japanese people is that WWII was a war between imperialists. Neither side represented justice or injustice. Some even think that crimes carried out by Japanese militarists were inflicted on Japan by the victors. If this view cannot be changed, the Yasukuni Shrine issue will still impact Sino-Japanese ties and threaten regional stability.