HK Protesters Go Back to the Future?

Seen here are Hong Kong Protesters staging a protest to mark the 82nd anniversary of the Invasion of Manchuria by Imperial Japan. Holding up banners of burning Imperial Japanese battle flags emblazoned with the image of convicted wartime prime minister Hideki Tojo (who ironically was not even prime minister when the Manchurian Invasion even occurred), this small group of protesters wanted the Japanese Embassy to know of their history. While we can not defend or endorse the actions taken by Imperial Japan of that time, we don't see a point in rehashing what has already been addressed time and time again. How long will China throw WWII in Japan's face while they sabre rattle over petty uninhabited islands while turning a deaf ear to international protests over what we view in the West as a deliberate form of "ethnic cleansing" of Tibet which the PRC calls "An Internal matter." Neither argument over what was right, wrong, or what seemed to one party or another necessary in their respective histories is going change the past. Sure, this may be calling the kettle black but the point is you can't go back to the future if you expect to get ahead. While Japan has been owning up to it's wartime past, it serves no purpose to re-fight the wars of the 20th century amidst current tensions. While this may only be a small group of people with a legitimate gripe against Japan, such protests there and elsewhere in the former occupied nations of Asia are at best in our opinion counter-productive. While we encourage them to honor their dead, we hope that they find the wisdom in working for peace than spending such energy re-fanning the flames of a long dead war.