Analysts in Europe and Asia stressed the importance of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sincerely apologizing for Japan's wartime atrocities in his statement on Friday marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

"Acknowledgment of Japan's historic conduct in the region is important to improving ties with its neighbors," Richard Caplan, professor of international relations at the University of Oxford, told China Daily.

Abe confirmed on Wednesday that he will "convey to the world the remorse for the past war," Kyodo News agency reported.