With this summer's closely watched events marking the 70th year since the end of World War II drawing to a close, Japan should gear up to rebuild its relations with China and South Korea, which have been severely strained in recent years over wartime history-related issues and territorial rows. A proposed trilateral summit, which could be held as early as next month — and for the first time in more than three years — would provide a good venue for rapprochement.

The Chinese leadership under President Xi Jinping on Thursday held a massive military parade featuring the latest weaponry and military hardware of the People's Liberation Army to commemorate what Beijing calls the 70th anniversary of victory in its war of resistance against Japanese aggression. In his speech at the event, Xi said the victory "crushed the plot of Japanese militarists to colonize and enslave China and put an end to China's national humiliation of suffering successive defeats at the hands of foreign aggressors in modern times" and "re-established China as a major country in the world."

While the parade was apparently aimed at demonstrating China's growing international clout, thereby legitimizing the Communist Party's rule of the country since 1949, Xi did not refer to its relations with Japan today or any criticism of Tokyo over current bilateral disputes. On the eve of the parade, Xi agreed with South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who attended the event unlike leaders from Western powers and Japan, that they should hold a trilateral summit with Japan "at a convenient time, including late October or early November," in South Korea. No such summit has been held since May 2012. In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga indicated Japan's readiness to take part and said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is willing to hold a separate bilateral meeting with Park if offered by the trilateral summit host.