T-Salon

Japan's grudging apologies for its cruel imperialism in Asia in the 1930s and 1940s have been contrasted unfavourably to the full accounting given by Germany for Nazi atrocities in Europe. Such comparisons are only fair.

Postwar reconciliation, however, requires forgiving victims as well as remorseful perpetrators. The virulently anti-Japanese protests in China over the past week show the other side of this story. Just as unapologetic Japan fares poorly in comparison with Germany, so unforgiving China falls short of the standards set by the European victims of Nazi Germany.

The immediate problem is that Chinese leaders have condoned violent anti-Japanese demonstrations, by allowing the protesters a freedom they would never grant to people exercised by equally important issues such as the lack of democracy in China.

For weeks, Beijing has exploited public opinion to galvanise opposition to Tokyo's bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. It cannot now claim to be surprised that 20,000 Chinese at the weekend staged the biggest anti-foreign protests since the Nato bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade six years ago. Yesterday's statement by the Chinese foreign ministry that the blame for the current state of Sino-Japanese relations lies not with China but with a Japan that has failed to enhance trust is disingenuous.

Over a longer period, the Chinese Communist party has fostered anti- Japanese feelings even among those too young to have any direct experience of the Nanjing massacre or any other Japanese crimes. It is hypocritical for Beijing, which has hidden from its own people the truth about Japan's postwar pacifism and financial generosity towards China, to complain about Japanese distortions of history.

Chinese history books largely ignore the hunger, bloodshed and chaos inflicted on the Chinese people by their own leaders, while highlighting Japanese atrocities and exaggerating the contemporary threat of Japanese rearmament. Lacking any ideological justification for its power now that it relies on capitalism, the Communist party seems to have turned to simplistic nationalism to reinforce its legitimacy.

This is a dangerous game, both for the stability of China and the security of north-east Asia. Protests against Japan can quickly turn into other demonstrations as marchers taste the unfamiliar freedom of speaking their minds.

Much as Germany and France lie at the heart of Europe, Japan and China form the political and economic core of east Asia. Their economies are complementary. Each is one of the largest trading partners of the other. Together, they account for 85 per cent of the region's gross domestic product.

To damp the latest flare-up will need humility from China as well as Japan. Tokyo must prepare to be honest about its past and to apologise without reserve but China must be ready too - not with another list of grievances, but with an outstretched hand.