BEIJING - Anti-Japan protests ebbed in China over the past few days and those responsible for vandalism are being wanted by police, in sharp contrast to a series of provocative moves taken by Japan.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda headed for New York on Monday to attend the annual meeting of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, at which he will urge for implementation of the principle of rule of law over territorial disputes.

Before Noda's trip, Tokyo witnessed a mass anti-China demonstration on Saturday, involving thousands of right-wing activists.

However, Noda's call for rule of law is groundless and defies the international order after World War II, by going against the arrangements for Japan set by the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation.

The Cairo Declaration in 1943 said that all the territories Japan had stolen from China, such as northeast China, Taiwan and the Penghu Islands shall be restored to China.

The Potsdam Proclamation, issued in 1945, stipulated, "The terms of the Cairo declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine."

However, the United States, through backroom deals, illegally transferred the Diaoyu Islands to Japan when it signed the Okinawa Reversion Agreement with Japan in 1971. China has never accepted it.

If the Japanese authorities really respected the rule of law, it should not have "purchased" the Diaoyu Islands in the first place.

The question now lies in that whether Japan, a nation defeated in the world's anti-fascist war, recognizes the Potsdam Proclamation and the Cairo Declaration, or will it choose to defy the international order.

Japan cannot solve its territorial disputes with China over the Diaoyu Islands without thorough and critical examination of its aggression during World War II, German broadcaster Deutschlandradio said in a commentary over the weekend.

Japan still has not confessed its militaristic past as it glosses over its wartime atrocities in China, says the commentary.

Meanwhile, China signaled its goodwill to solve issues concerning the Diaoyu Islands through dialogues and negotiations, although it is angered by Japan's infringement upon its sovereignty.

China has been urging Japan to return to the track of dialogue and negotiation, said China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei on Thursday.

As for a question on whether China will offer compensation for some Japanese enterprises' losses incurred during anti-Japan demonstrations and protests in China, Hong said relevant cases will be handled appropriately.

China's goodwill and restraint will not be ignored for nothing.Relations between China and Japan fell to their lowest point in years since Japan's "purchase" and "nationalization" of the Diaoyu Islands. It is time for Japan to repent over its invasive acts, from the World War II to the recent "purchase" of Diaoyu Islands.