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.