Why would a country want to relive such pain and suffering, and with annual reminders? Later, it dawned on me that perhaps this is how the chapters are finally being closed.

Perhaps, too, the serials that are aired on Chinese television can finally find new content and inspiration, and the producers will no longer have to rack their brains on how to find a new angle on yet another wartime drama.

The world is closing in on us and the global city is forcing us into uncomfortably close proximity with all our neighbors.

We have to deal with getting along with each other, and we have to learn to deal with the fallout of another country's political problems, especially if the fallout involves our own sons and daughters.

Let grief and anger reign, then, but after the emotions are spent, let us move forward, sadder but wiser.

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Future hazy as we count the cost of warp-speed growth

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