I refer to Philip Bowring's column ("The other tale, of Han expansion", December 2).
He wrote, "With the 18th party congress behind us and Xi Jinping now installed as leader, can China ease off on the narrative of victimhood which has been so apparent in recent months?"
Beginning with the first opium war (1839-42), China had to endure more than 100 years of humiliation at the hands of the Western powers and Japan.
Of course, China was partly to blame for this state of affairs, first through a mistaken sense of its own superiority, and then because of military ineptitude.
Now China finally has become a world economic and military power, and is a key player in global politics. But somehow Chinese people cannot get away from the "victim" mentality, especially when it concerns Japan.
If we cannot overcome this hurdle, and always act as an aggrieved child, we will not gain the respect of the world. When China was a weakling, it was bullied by others; now that it is a strong country, its citizens need to act in a way that befits the nation's international status.
The Diaoyus/Senkakus dispute with Japan is a case in point. The anti-Japanese demonstrations on the mainland were a disgrace.