If one read only the China Daily, one would believe that one of the world’s worst people is the prime minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi. The semi-official paper says that Mr. Koizumi’s repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine have “hurt the feelings of Chinese people and damaged the political foundation of Sino-Japanese relations.” So much so that for months, Beijing has practically stopped talking to Tokyo.

So when Japan’s vice minster for foreign affairs, Shotaro Yachi, met with his Chinese counterpart Dai Bingguo in China last week, it was considered news. Not only did the two officials hold meetings, but they also announced that new talks, on exploration rights for oil and gas fields in disputed areas of the East China Sea, would take place in Japan this week.

Relations between the richest nation and the biggest country in East Asia have plunged to new lows since Mr. Koizumi became prime minister five years ago. China has basically given up on Mr. Koizumi and hopes his successor will bring normalcy back.

Imagine that Japan’s next prime minister announces that he will honestly face the history and do the following things to mend fences with China: 1) he will never visit the Yasukuni Shrine; 2) he will apologize for Japan’s World War II atrocities every time the subject of Sino-Japanese relations arises; and 3) Japan will ban all history textbooks that irritate China.

Would the Chinese then forgive and embrace the Japanese once and for all if Japan were to perform this ultimate kowtow? No. China would maintain that Japan hasn’t repented enough. China will keep opposing Japan as a permanent member in the United Nations Security Council. Chinese submarines would still enter Japan’s waters, secretly if necessary. And, of course, anti-Japanese riots will always be stirred up, as we saw in spring 2005, whenever Japan is seen as not subservient enough.

The problem lies not with what Japan does or doesn’t do but what China is. China has always been cynical in airing its the so-called historical grievances against Japan. Sixty years after the World War II, ignoring the fact that Japan has been transformed, China would like to paint a picture of an unrepentant Japan. China takes full advantage of Japan’s war guilt to extract concessions from Japan in whichever current issue is on the negotiating table.

Yasukuni is an emotional but phony issue. I agree with what Mr. Koizumi said after paying his fifth visit to the controversial shrine last October: “A foreign government should not say it’s good or bad for Japanese people to pay their sincere respects to Japanese war dead.”

I myself visited the Yasukuni Shrine a few years ago. I followed the routine of throwing coins in a box before praying. In my mind, I was very clear in what I was doing, as Mr. Koizumi described what he’s doing: to pray for peace. Yes, I would prefer the 14 Class-A war criminals not to be among the 2.4 million souls honored there. But did simply praying there make me a supporter of Japanese militarism? Nonsense.

I don’t have much problem with the Yasukuni Shrine itself but the Yushukan, the war memorial museum right next to the shrine, bears true offence. The Yushukan presents a distorted view of the war history that glorifies Japan’s motivation and whitewashes its misdeeds. In fact, the Yushukan is exhibit A of everything the Chinese claim to be wrong with Japan.

However, critics need to be reminded of one crucial fact. Both the shrine and the museum are privately funded. It would indeed have been an outcry if Tokyo were to fund such an entity. But it doesn’t. The Chinese always choose to ignore the fact that Japan, unlike China, is a free and democratic nation where freedom of expression is protected under the law. Even unpopular and wrong views are to be tolerated, unlike in China.

China’s real issue with Japan, disguised by historical complaints, lies in the trend of Japan becoming a Japan that can say no. Japan’s assertiveness, a key aspect of Mr. Koizumi’s ambition of turning his country into a “normal” nation, injects a new element into the Sino-Japanese relationship. The Chinese can no longer expect knee-jerk kowtows from the Japanese whenever the Middle Kingdom wants to behave like one and demand that others roll over.

China is angry at Japan for phasing out most low-interest development aid, a total of $30 billion since 1979. China is dissatisfied with Japan for not surrendering its right of drilling for natural gas and oil fields in the disputed East China Sea area. China is unhappy with Japan’s plan of amending its Peace Constitution to have a regular military force. China is worried about Japan becoming a stauncher ally of America and getting involved to help America defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion of the island democracy.

China doesn’t want to see a “normal” Japan rising. This is what the fuss is really about.

Mr. Liu, a former chairman of the Hong Kong Journalists Association and general manager of Hong Kong’s Apple Daily, is a Washington-based columnist.