The year was 2002- the 30th anniversary of the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations but also a time when relations grew sharply frostier over the prime minister's visit to Yasukuni Shrine. Into this fray dropped Ma Licheng's “New Thinking on Relations with Japan＂, triggering a storm of debate in both China and Japan. Even now, more than a decade after the essay's publication, the New Thinking continues to have a major influence on policy discussions. While Sino-Japanese relations hit new turbulence over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands in 2012,the author remains optimistic that the bilateral issues can be resolved rationally and peacefully. Referencing the durability of the postwar peace between France an Germany, he argues that - for their own and the international community's sake, China and Japan can and must find ways to overcome their antagonisms and live in peace as complementary neighbors.

人々が都市単位で生きる荒廃した未来。それぞれの都市は生存区域を賭け、忌兵と呼ばれる人型兵器を使った戦争に明け暮れていた。少年ジレが暮らすティルノーグは、主戦級機ヘイトレッドとその忌兵乗りオーファンドを擁する豊かな都市。だが、ある日オーファンドが謎の敵の奇襲を受け戦死してしまう。代役として急遽ヘイトレッドに搭乗させられたジレだが、なすすべなく故郷は陥落。ジレは、エースパイロットと勘違いされたまま物資を漁ろうと戦場をうろついていた旅団に拾われる。そしてジレは、英雄の名を騙り、終末の世界を生きることを決意する――!!