In an historic move last week, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan made an apology to the Korean people, for his nation’s crimes against them, to mark the hundredth anniversary of the Japanese annexation of the Korean peninsula.

But on the Asian mainland, many Chinese see the apology as a strategic move to undermine China.

Andrew Livingstone on the apology that was, and the apology that was not.

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In an historic move earlier this month, Japanese Prime (PIC) Minister Naoto Kan publicly apologized to the Korean people for Japan’s annexation of their country and what he called the “tremendous damage and suffering that this colonial rule caused”. The apology came on the hundredth anniversary of Japan’s take over of the Korean peninsula. But across the Yellow Sea, many Chinese people see the apology as simply a strategic move to undermine China. Chinese media has not been slow in pointing out that no such fulsome apology has ever been made to China. So what do ordinary Chinese people feel about this tense issue? Our reporter Julia Wang went out on the streets of Beijing to find out …

Now usually in our Netcheck section we look at online reaction to a story or event here in China which has got web users buzzing. But today’s a little different. And that’s because the story of a little American girl, Julie Murphy and her lemonade stand in Portland Oregon, really seems to have struck a chord with Chinese net users. 7-year-old Julie ran into a little official trouble when she set up her stall at a fair in Multnomah County, Oregon. County Health Inspectors threatened Julie and her mother with a $500 fine for not having a food safety licence. Uproar followed with reports in the New York Times and National TV. But the story ended happily with an apology from County Chairman Jeff Cogen. He also told health inspectors to use "professional discretion" when enforcing food-safety laws intended for adults in commercial businesses. So why the big reaction here in China? Well let’s cross over to the newsroom and ask our researcher Quincy Hsiao who’s been following the story.

In today's net check we get Chinese reaction to the unrest in nearby Thailand. Dozens of people there have been killed in the battles between red shirt protesters and the military.

The bloodshed followed a more than two month stand-off between thousands of protesters and the authorities in Bangkok. The anti-government red shirts have been calling for fresh elections and what they call 'real democracy'.

The military crackdown began on Wednesday morning after weeks of negotiations failed to disperse protesters, many of whom are followers of Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister ousted in a 2006 military coup. Soldiers clashed with militants, some of whom were armed with assault weapons.