【明報專訊】ON the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a speech. It includes "aggression", "colonial rule", "remorse" and "apology", the four key expressions the Murayama Statement contains. However, they are rhetoric taken out of specific semantic context. In the final analysis, such rhetoric is meant to "make a mess of history and deceive the world" as Xinhua (China's official news agency) has said. China has torn the Abe Statement to pieces, calling the Japanese Prime Minister insincere. South Korea has responded to it similarly. However, the White House has issued a statement on behalf of the US President that says the US welcomes Japan's deep remorse for what it did. The Abe Statement is evasive about apology and Japan's responsibility for what it did, but the US takes the view that Japan has so behaved since WWII ended 70 years ago that its record stands as a "model" for nations everywhere. The difference between Beijing's perception of the Abe Statement and Washington's points to two totally different strategic attitudes towards the Western Pacific Ocean. Rivalry in the East China Sea will unavoidably become even much fiercer.