Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will pay a two-day visit to China this Friday to meet with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

Locked in long-standing tensions caused by the legacy of World War II, territorial disputes and geopolitical games, the Sino-Japanese relationship was pushed to the brink of confrontation in 2012 after the Japanese government decided to "nationalize" the contested Diaoyu Islands. In the four years since, bilateral ties have significantly worsened, with some progress after 2014 when both sides agreed to a four-point principled consensus. However, the lack of high-level interactions have left Sino-Japanese relations grounded in a backwater.

Tokyo's die-hard standpoint on historical issues, inflammatory activities concerning territorial controversies at the bidding of the US, and disturbing constitutional amendments to break away from the post-WWII security framework are the major hindrances that keep jeopardizing mutual trust between China and Japan. On Monday, speaking ahead of his visit, Kishida said he hopes this trip will help mend ties with China, but in the meantime, he did not forget to express routine concerns about China's military buildup and activities in the East and South China Seas.

As a US lackey, Japan's China policy, to a large extent, coordinates with Washington's rebalance to the Asia-Pacific strategy. Tokyo's national policy is its own choice, but it should consider the basic fact that it is an East Asian country, and an amicable neighborhood shouldn't be overlooked in foreign policy.

External powers, like the US, will only become a complication to the geopolitical climate in East Asia. Problems concerning China and Japan can only be resolved through bilateral mechanisms. Many facts have proven that the involvement of other forces in the regional problem-solving process will usually cause unpredictable repercussions.

China, Japan and South Korea are closely connected with each other in many fields. The potential for tripartite cooperation is immense and waiting to be tapped. It should be collaboration instead of competition that dominates their agendas for each other. The three countries must recalibrate the orientation of their current relations, and dare to make breakthroughs in aspects such as a trilateral free trade zone to ease the long-standing political and historical tensions.

The three countries, especially Japan, should focus the attention on common interests of the entire region. As the global economy has entered a "new normal," the Asian economy, which is known as the locomotive of the global economy, has also reached a crossroads. Without joint efforts, China, Japan and South Korea will meet a lot more difficulties with economic growth and restructuring.

It is time for Japan to shift to a new gear. Excessive dependence on the US  has made it a vanguard for Washington policy which may not be in the intersts of Tokyo and which has blinkered it to seeing the real dynamic of East Asia.