Please don't get me wrong.

I'm as angry about Japan's refusal to accept the realities of its criminal wartime past as anybody. For years, I've been labouring, lobbying and writing on two different continents to pressure the Japanese Government to admit its wartime atrocities.

The Japanese cannot continue to ignore the behaviour of the Imperial Army in World War II, the repugnant slaughter of innocents in Nanjing and the atrocious crimes inflicted against women forced into slavery to meet the sexual needs of soldiers.

Sometimes the frustration can be overwhelming, such as when news breaks that new school textbooks in Japan will again be filled with distortions about the past. We wonder: Why has nothing changed in this battle to bring Japan to admit its wartime role?

I feel somewhat like a measly ant pestering a magnificent tiger who has chosen to sleep on an anthill.

But we must remember this is a long process, which leads me to say that Chinese citizens, no matter how frustrated they may become, must continue the battle for change on the political front - using rhetoric and ideas and political dialogue - not violence.

Resorting to throwing rocks and breaking windows at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, as occurred this past Saturday - in effect, turning to criminal means to try to make a point with the Japanese Government, or the Japanese people - is not going to help change a thing.

Sure, it might make a few thousand angry Chinese feel better, setting off a surge of adrenalin for a few hours. But in the long run it will only make Japan dig in its heels even more. And, sadly, it could turn Japanese public opinion against doing something to change an immoral situation.

Japanese may become angry and choose to ignore the facts and see the violence as an insult to Japanese national pride. This would be a setback to progress that has been made.

In their heart or hearts, Japanese politicians - even the most far-right right-wingers - already know that distorting the island nation's wartime past in school textbooks is a lost cause.

They know that one simply can't hide the heinous murders of 300,000 Chinese in Nanjing. It can't be done. You can't hide the sexual victimization of thousands of young women, and how it ruined their lives forever. You can't hide one of the most obscene criminal acts against humanity in all of history. It is a stain against Japan. And until a full apology and restitution is made, it will never be cleansed.

In their hearts, the Japanese people know this. Sooner or later, they will demand what is right of their government and its leaders.

Some enlightened Japanese, who annually visit Nanjing on the anniversary of the atrocity, already are doing so. The way for China, the Koreas, and its allies to make certain that this enlightened reaction continues, is to maintain patient political action. Resorting to violence or criminal behaviour in the streets of China, or anywhere else, for that matter, simply will not help.

So, my dear Chinese brothers and sisters, protest loudly and shout slogans, and gather 10,000 people to march on the Japanese Embassy in Beijing. Wave flags, sing the Chinese national anthem and carry signs condemning the Japanese school history textbooks.

Shout "Down with Japan!" and "Long live China!" Threaten a boycott on Japanese products, although in our global economy that likely won't do much good.

Call on the Chinese Government to resist Tokyo's desires for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

But forget throwing eggs, rocks, beer bottles and concrete projectiles. They are dangerous to the hundreds of Chinese police who must protect the Japanese compound. They also cause the residents of the embassy to fear for their safety - innocent people who had nothing to do with the crimes against humanity at Nanjing.

And remember: Even the strongest tiger cannot withstand hundreds of thousands of tiny ants stinging his body.