Summary: China's successful hosting of the 2008 Olympics was its "coming out party," as the phrase went at the time. Not only did it give Beijing a venue to control the narrative of the country's rise to the outside world, it was a massive boost of confidence for the Chinese people, who for more than one century had lived with the narrative of foreign encroachment and humiliation. Now that China has gotten a taste of Olympic glory, they seem to want to try it again, and have put in a bid for the 2022 winter games. A recent editorial by The Global Times, excerpted below, tries to beat back those who think that one Olympics was enough. 

Source: 环球时报

Summary: The burden of the past rests heavily on the shoulders of Japan and China, and with the 70th anniversary of Japan's defeat in WWII to be marked later this year, China has unveiled a host of events to commemorate their victory in the conflagration. The following article by Bu Ping, the director of the academic board of the Institute of Modern History at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, is a taste of the type of commentary we are likely to see much more of in the official press in the near future.

Excerpt from the story: "Political forces bent on denying historical realities persist in Japan. In the 1980s, right-wing conservatives demanded the reversal of postwar politics amid the country's successful economic development since the end of World War II. In the mid-1990s, the tendency became even more pronounced among Japanese politicians. Over 100 parliamentary politicians established a committee devoted to discussing history. The committee denounced Morihiro Hosokawa, who was elected Japanese Prime Minister in 1993, for his speech apologizing for Japan's aggression. The committee attempted to cover up historical truth and whitewash the past. They attempted to block Japan's parliament from approving a resolution in 1995 that recognized the country's historical responsibility for aggression. Moreover, they pushed politicians to pay respects to war criminals at the Yasukuni Shrine. They denied war atrocities committed by the Japanese army in occupied areas including sex slavery of women from China, Korea and Southeast Asian countries. All these events show that there is a strong political force in Japan obstructing people from reflecting on history even 50 years after the end of World War II.

Will Japan continue bearing the historical burden or make a sincere introspection over its past aggression and acknowledge historical responsibility? This question will decide Japan's future."

Source: 新华网