Wartime past & disputed isles strain Japan’s ties

Shortly after the atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan surrendered and ended World War II.  On Wednesday, Japan commemorated that surrender with annual “private” visits of legislators to Yasukuni Shrine.  Among the two million war dead enshrined there are controversial war criminals.  It’s a flashpoint for most countries in Asia, which suffered violence from Japanese atrocities.  China and South Korea called on Japan to acknowledge and face its history.  Forced prostitution, the “comfort women,” was a major issue in many countries occupied by Japan, including Indonesia and the Philippines.  China said it would protest the detention of 14 Hong Kong activists, 7 of whom slipped through military defenses and landed on a disputed island claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan.

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