The news of Shinzo Abe’s assassination rocked the world for a brief moment, and opened the doors for some unseemly reactions from China’s public, but within the context of Sino-Japanese history one may have expected worse.

The two Asian powers signed agreements including $30 billion currency swap.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a great election victory, enabling him to push through his agenda. But this victory will prove hollow if he doesn’t favor cooperation over cut-throat competition.