China’s visceral hate for Japanese paymaster

The troubled Olympic torch comes to Japan tomorrow. Although it will only be in the country for a day, it is arguably the most significant episode so far in the bizarre spectacle that the torch relay has become.

As a rule Chinese people despise the Japanese. An overwhelming majority of Chinese - including intelligent, educated people - see the Japanese as arrogant, violent and greedy and it is doubtful whether the government can convince the Chinese to put their hatred on hold for the sake of a harmonious summer Games.

During both the Asian Cup in 2004 and the Women's World Cup in 2007 (football events both held in China), the Japanese teams were harassed. Come August, flags will be burned and people hurt, much like during the anti-Japanese protests that shook the streets of

Shanghai in 2005.

The most obvious grounds for animosity are that China feels Japan has yet to properly apologise for its murderous conduct during World War 2, although resentment existed before this.

At the start of the 20th century, the Qing Court felt humiliated that China, traditionally the regional superpower, had become 'the weak man of Asia' while the 'Japanese dwarfs' went from strength to strength under the Meiji Restoration.

Resentment is not only still rife, surveys show that it is actually greater in the current generation than in those that lived through the war. This is not a surprise. The Chinese state-run press inundates the public with stories depicting the Japanese as duplicitous, perverted and sadistic.

A favourite of Chinese editors is