China told Japan bluntly today that it had nothing to apologise for after weeks of anti-Japanese protests, some violent, in cities across the country.
The Chinese are furious at a revised Japanese school textbook they say whitewashes atrocities during Japan's 1931-45 occupation of China . They also strongly oppose Tokyo's bid for a permanent seat alongside Beijing on the UN Security Council.
China denies tacitly encouraging the anti-Japanese unrest and has pledged to protect Japanese businesses and nationals.
"The Chinese government has never done anything for which it has to apologise to the Japanese people," Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told his visiting Japanese counterpart, Nobutaka Machimura, at a meeting.
"The main problem now is that the Japanese government has done a series of things that have hurt the feelings of the Chinese people ... especially in its treatment of history."
Mr Machimura flew to China today to try to heal relations between the two Asian powerhouses which are at their worst in decades. He demanded China deal with the protests swiftly even as they spread from Shanghai yesterday to cities across the country today.
Japan is asking for compensation for attacks on Japanese property in China and an official apology, but Mr Li did not offer either, Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hatsuhisa Takashima said.
Mr Machimura said it was unfortunate that China refused to apologise, Kyodo news agency said.
"China's top leaders seem not to understand the huge shock that the Japanese public has felt over this issue," he was quoted as telling reporters after the talks. "I found the response very unfortunate."