Hatoyama is now presiding over the Tokyo-based East Asian Community Institute, and he is committed to bringing Asian countries together like Europe has with the European Union.

"Japan and China understand the character 和 - meaning literally 'harmony'. I hope that the two countries can become the core of an Asian version of EU," he said.

He envisions an Asia that is a community of peace, with cooperation among the different nations expanding from the economic sector to areas such as culture, education, the environment, energy and disaster relief, and with people in the community traveling freely across borders.

Speaking in Singapore in November 2009, Hatoyama elaborated on the philosophy of yu-ai, or "fraternity", as one of the cornerstones for the East Asian community he envisions.

"With yu-ai, people respect the freedom and human dignity of others just as they respect their own freedom and human dignity. In other words, yu-ai means not only the independence of people but also their coexistence, he said.

China, Japan and South Korea have frequent cultural exchanges. Talks on a trilateral free trade agreement are underway. Also, the three countries, together with Australia, India and New Zealand, are negotiating with the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations on a regional FTA, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

On the political front, Japan's relations with its two neighbors, however, remain tense. Hatoyama asserted that people-to-people exchanges can alleviate - albeit not solve - the problems at the political level.

"When everyone realizes that it is a win-win situation, the political weather will warm up," he said. "However, it is impossible for people-to-people or economic exchanges to solve all the political issues."

With the sweeping victory of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the Dec 14 general election, Hatoyama said he does not see China-Japan relations taking a turn for the better any time soon, as the Abe administration will probably take more actions to rearm Japan. In July the Abe Cabinet reinterpreted Japan's Constitution to allow for the right to collective self-defense.

Hatoyama spoke highly of the four-point agreement the two countries reached in November and paved the way for the talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Abe on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing.

But he acknowledged that it has not restored trust between the two countries and pointed to the "trickiness" in the agreement. He said that the two need to implement the agreement to the letter.

The former Japanese prime minister recommended that the two governments start reading the four-point agreement and the four political documents China and Japan have inked since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1972, article by article. In so doing, they will encourage their people to understand that a good relationship is in the interests of the two countries.

"The Abe administration, in particular, needs to interpret faithfully the four-point agreement and the four political documents," he said.

The author is China Daily's Tokyo bureau chief. caihong@chinadaily.com.cn