Michi,

I've never claimed to 'know a lot about China', who does?

Australia needed to improve relations with its former enemy for significant economic advantage, so NARA was the result, Australia and Japan needed each other, we had little choice other than reconciliation. We didn't have the luxury of 'settling scores'. Many Australians haven't forgotten Japan's atrocious war time record and the regular reports of Japanese 'selective amnesia', nor have the Chinese. China was invaded, devastated and humiliated by the Japanese in the 1930s and 1940s. A resurgent China might calculate it can punish the Japanese with, not invasion and devastation, but humiliation, at little cost to itself. Please note, I'm not making any moral judgements and suggesting that Japan should be punished, simply that I suspect that the Chinese might have just that intention.

There's an immense difference between the economic insignificance of Mao's China and its foreign policy and the foreign policy of the new Middle Kingdom.

Watch the video I linked on page 5, particularly in reference to Hugh White's comments on China-Japan relations.

You might be interested in this, Prof. Galtung's lecture is on the broad topic of a peaceful world-he mentions Germany's success in coming to terms with its past and Japan's failure.

http://peoplesgeography.com/?s=johan+galtung

Mac,
In "does Australia have unfinished scores with Japan after it signed" the peace treaty with Japan "in 1951?" substitute China for Australia and in 1978 for in 1951. That is what I wanted to mean.

The Chinese communist leaders cannot make typhoons and earthquakes, but they can make anti-foreign movements. They do this for their political and policy convenience. The Chinese people dance to the tunes without knowing it.

The first wave of anti-foreign songs was because Mao was furious with the United States. The U.S. had been assisting Chiang Kaishek and the two peoples started to fight in the Korean Peninsula. President Truman said Taiwan was the only legitimate government representing China.
The second wave was engineered and manipulated because Mao disageed to Moscow's policy of peaceful coexistence with the West. Mao was mad because Russia "backed away" in the Cuban missile crisis; Mao said U.S. atomic bombs were paper tigers; the Chinese communists did not respect Moscow as the Holy See of international communist movements, etc.

If the anti-Japanese feelings had come before 1978, that would be understandble. As they came after 1978, I feel it a little bit unfair.

As for our selecive amnesia, I feel as if you had been reading, say, the Peoples's Daily.
There are certainly Japanese who do not learn at all. But the war-guilt education in post-war Japan has gone so far, coupled with strong leftist thinking, that a lot of Japanese, if not most, feel very small and cannot say,for example, if I may speak figuratively, "Tokyo is a Japanese city" when the Chinese Communists say, "the Japanese are saying Tokyo is a Japanese city. They are not remorseful yet."

When I say, "Tokyo is the capital of Japan," do not blame me for amnesia.

There is a deeper, older, and more historical reason for the Chinese disdain of the Japanese.

China is Australia's largest merchandise export market, accounting for $46.4 billion in calendar year 2009-10 (free on board, value terms). This is followed by Japan ($37.1 billion), the Republic of Korea ($16.5 billion), India ($16.2 billion) and the United States ($9.5 billion).
The Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics - Bureau of Rural Sciences (ABARE-BRS) forecasts that earnings from Australia’s commodity exports will increase by 26.0 per cent in 2010–11 to around $214.9 billion. For energy and minerals, export earnings are forecast to increase by 29.9 per cent to around $179.9 billion in 2010–11, higher negotiated contract prices for coal and higher export shipments and prices for iron ore are the main reasons for the increase. ABARE-BRS forecasts that export earnings for farm commodities will be around $31.4 billion in 2010–11, up from $28.5 billion in 2009–10.
The $A has traded over a large range since the global financial crisis. Throughout 2010, the $A has fluctuated between 81 and 96 US cents, During the past few months, the $A has gained strength against the $US following improvements in Australia’s trade position.

China reciprocates: 'trades' in the full connotation of the term.

According to most financial commentators, the Australian Dollar is massively overvalued at present and its position is mainly a reflection of the U.S.'s current problems.

Michi,

You're saying that anti-Japanese sentiments in China are the result of cynical propaganda campaigns by the Communist Party and not due to any underlying resentment of Japan by the Chinese people. That's certainly plausible given the Chinese government's control of the media. However that doesn't account for anti-Japanese sentiment in other East Asian nations which is attributed to Japan's historical record. Only time will tell which opinion is correct.

Your comments in regard to Japanese 'selective amnesia' are interesting,and in contrast with the way the local media report on Japanese attitudes to the past. There are regular reports here in Australia of attempts by the Japanese educators to "whitewash the record of their armed forces during WW2. I don't know how accurate such reports are, however they are definitely not favourable to the international image of Japan.
I think that you're saying that the Japanese,from the Chinese point of view,will never be allowed to put the past behind them.

You said "There is a deeper, older, and more historical reason for the Chinese disdain of the Japanese" but did not explain what it is.
Are you referring to the fact that Japanese culture is partly derived from China,or to some other reason?