History can be easily muted and skewed. It can also be taken and developed into a priceless foundation of knowledge. A foundation that conveys humanistic principles, critical judgments, and logical deductions, and which can be a valuable asset that benefits a society, a country or even the world as a whole, transforming ruthless malignance to benign civilization.

Evidently, the Germans were mostly responsible for the outbreak of World War I and II, but what is most important is that Germany has responded to its war crimes, in the course of historical recognition, repentance and apologies. Moreover, German leaders have repeatedly expressed regret throughout history; most remarkable was former chancellor Willy Brandt, who dropped to his knees in front of a Holocaust memorial in the Warsaw Ghetto in 1970. Germany has also paid substantial reparations to Israel and to Holocaust survivors.

Markedly, it was the path that the Germanic people have taken, which had rescued them from the world's revilement, the shadow of death. Ever since the end of World War II, Germany has already gained trust and respect internationally, due to their willingness to reflect and admit to history, as well as their heartfelt apologies and reparations.

On the other hand, Japan, a country that was as coldblooded as Germany, has also killed millions of innocent souls during World War II. However after the war, Japan took a drastically different approach in regards to their recognition of history. Japan's silence, distortion of historical fact, and neglect of evidence were their "tactics" in confronting their past brutality. As a Chinese, the indescribable pain that we suffered is something that we hate to remember, but cannot dare to forget.

I believe secondary school history teachers have been telling their students about the cruelness and evilness of Japanese soldiers during the Japanese aggressions against China. In 1894, Japan invaded China for the first time, which is known as the First Sino-Japanese War. China lost the war and Japan claimed victory. As a result, the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki, ceded the Liaodong Peninsula, Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, along with paying substantial reparations to Japan. China not only lost land and money, but most importantly, peoples' self-esteem.

The outbreak of World War I in 1914 saw Japan join the great powers and emerge as one of the victorious nations. Subsequently, Japan landed its forces on China's Shandong province.

For greed, all nature is too little. Triumph in World War I carried Japan into the full-scale invasion of China. On the night of July 7, 1937, Japan threw off its camouflage and brutally encroached on China. The ruthlessness of Japan's soldiers was chilling; the Nanjing Massacre, the inhuman use of bacterial poisoning in Northeast China, the bombing of Chongqing, just to name a few. Eight years of suffering and torture were stained with blood and tears, and the loss of lives and property were astronomical.

History offers evidence. Yet, evidence of the invasion of China is not sufficient for some shameless Japanese leaders to reflect on or apologize for Japan's war crimes. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has refused to acknowledge "aggression" on the part of the Japanese military. Former Tokyo mayor Shintaro Ishihara has consistently defended Japan's actions in World War II and denied the Nanjing Massacre. Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto has brazenly described providing comfort women to Japanese soldiers during World War II as a "necessary" part of the war effort. Their repeated verbal violence and total disregard for history have induced great indignation for the living comfort women.

A small group of scholars and politicians in Hong Kong have recently advocated an "Occupy Central" campaign in pursuit of their political appeals and in protest of "social injustice". Why hadn't they protested against the huge injustice Japan has done to our country? A lot of Hong Kong people are completely ignorant of the damage Japan has done to our nation and even make an idol of their culture and values. A few weeks ago, some of my friends and I marched to the Japanese Consulate in Hong Kong to protest against Toru Hashimoto's recent remark on comfort women. As expected, not a single journalist was at the scene.

The author is vice-chairman of Education Convergence.

(HK Edition 05/31/2013 page9)