AS WE highlighted in our recent essay, old resentments die hard in Asia. The latest report by the Pew Research Centre on public perceptions in countries in the Asia-Pacific region bears this out. Historic grudges continue to colour the views East Asians in particular (in China, Japan and South Korea) hold about the other countries. Seventy years after Japan’s second-world-war surrender and the end of its occupation of much of China, very few Chinese see Japan in a favourable light. Correspondingly, as China has been increasingly assertive in pursuing its territorial dispute with Japan over the Senkaku or Diaoyu islands, the number of Japanese with positive views of China has fallen to similar levels.

The end of the second world war also marked the end of Japanese colonial rule in Korea. Many South Koreans, like many Chinese still believe that Japan has not apologised enough for its militaristic, colonial past. Today just 25% of South Koreans view Japan favourably. Elsewhere, however, although many other parts of Asia suffered Japanese aggression, much of the region holds a generally positive image of Japan. In Malaysia for example, also occupied by Japan during the war, 84% of those surveyed view Japan kindly. So too in South Asia, both Indians and Pakistanis hold favourable views of Japan (and reserve their deepest resentments for each other).

China meanwhile remains very popular with its “all-weather friend” Pakistan. And overall, a majority of those surveyed (57%) held favourable views of the biggest power in the region. But some countries, particularly those bordering the South China Sea, feel much more wary. They are alarmed by China’s frenzied construction activity in the sea, turning rocks and reefs into artificial islands that could have military uses. When asked about China’s overlapping territorial claims, the vast majority of people in the Philippines and Vietnam—where the disputes are most active are “very or somewhat concerned”. A majority of Indians, Japanese and South Koreans—all with their own territorial disagreements with China—are also worried.