Japanese Leadership Fails Opportunity To Make Amends For WWII War Crimes

Today two Asian power houses exchanged a few words, diplomatic parlance for a slight 'tiff.' Historically, China and Japan have been rivals, both nations vying for the pole position in the Pacific. The events that gave rise to this new bad blood originate, to nobody's surprise, from the WWII era. Who is at fault this time around? While I do not subscribe to the often held practice of finding a nation guilty in the present for the misdeeds of some prior generation (insert your example of your own preference here), I cannot help but agree with the Chinese Premier who yesterday said, and I am paraphrasing here, that Japan must come to grips with its past. In contrast with Germany, Japan's leadership, not just the present government, but successive post-WWII administrations, has failed to offer it's neighbors, including, but not limited to China, sufficient evidence that the many war crimes conducted under shadow of the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces flag are wholly and unequivacally indefensible acts of barbarism. The interests of the United States vis-a-vis it's relations with the Pacific Rim nations would be well served if Washington gently prodded it's Japanese ally in seeing the merits of an honest self appraisal of Japanese actions during WWII. It is long overdue.