Japan should apologize for its WWII atrocities in China, said a 98-year-old British man who witnessed the cruelty of Japanese invaders during the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945).
Speaking at a meeting in Birmingham to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 88th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, Don Grant said he feels disappointed at Japan's attitude towards the war of aggression. He said Japan should give sincere apology to Chinese people for the wrong deeds.
"I feel very disappointed. The Germans have done it and I don't see why the Japanese shouldn't have done it as well. Because I know what are the problems that I faced, but I know the problems that the Chinese population generally faced was ten times worse. It was well known, their brutality. It's no way to treat anybody, human beings. It makes me very sad when I even try to remember it," he said.
Grant was born in Shanghai in 1928. His entire family resided in the city during the Japanese invasion of China. After the outbreak of the war, the Grant family was detained by the Japanese military in multiple prisoner-of-war camps.
During that period, young Grant witnessed the cruelty of war and a series of atrocities committed by the Japanese army.
It was not until 1946, after Japan's surrender, that the Grant family returned to Britain.
Paul Cooper, director of Birmingham People's History Archive who organized the meeting, said it is entirely normal to demand that Japan formally apologize for its aggression crimes.
However, Japan failed to do so. It's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi even made erroneous remarks that violated international law, an act that seriously undermined regional stability.
"I think British people are shocked when they find out that Japan's never apologized for what it did in the occupation of China. I think British people are surprised when they hear the scale of the massacres which took place in China. We want a community of peaceful nations. We want peaceful development between countries," Cooper said.
Veteran British witness on Japan's WWII atrocities in China
China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has reclaimed the top spot in global IPO market rankings for the first time since 2019.
According to global professional services firm KPMG, funds raised from initial public offerings in Hong Kong tripled from a year ago to over 272 billion Hong Kong dollars in 2025.
It noted half of the funds raised were from companies on the Chinese equity markets' A+H listing, referring to dual listings where a mainland Chinese company has its shares traded on both a stock exchange in the Chinese mainland and the Hong Kong's exchange.
A record number of 17 A+H listings were completed in 2025. With a backlog of 92 dual-listing applications, Hong Kong is likely to maintain its IPO momentum into next year.
"The Hong Kong market is always an exciting market, because it only takes perhaps one or two companies to make it the number one market in the world. And it's always been competitive with the U.S. markets. I don't think there's another market out there that could actually compete with the U.S. markets. It's been an exciting year for Hong Kong [market]. They've had a number of listings over there and it's become the alternative right now to the U.S. markets, especially for some of the Asian companies, Chinese [mainland] specifically," said Drew Bernstein, co-chair of advisory firm MarcumAsia.
When asked about next year, Bernstein said artificial intelligence will be in the spotlight.
"I think everybody's got their focus right now on AI. I haven't seen a lot of companies that are actually selling AI and making money. But obviously, the hardware people are making a lot of money right now. And that's where the focus is. Particularly in places like China, you've seen what the government is promoting right now is globalization for these companies. I think that's going to be a big push for the markets right now, because with globalization, you also have to globalize your finance part of the company. And it's going to force a lot of the companies to become more mature. There's also a bunch of them lined up right now for 2026. So I think it's going to be a pretty interesting year for IPOs. When the market is rich with IPOs, it's good for all the markets," he said.
The expert expressed optimism about the Asian economy, predicting that the region will produce many unicorns in the coming years.
"I'm very optimistic about more listings from Asia. I use Asia rather than just China, because probably 40 to 55 percent of our business right now is coming from places like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Japan. The interesting part about that is, my guess would be 20 to 30 percent of it is still Chinese. I've said for some time right now that I think going forward, at least for the next five or 10 years, the majority of the industry-disruptive unicorns will be coming from Asia," he said.
Hong Kong reclaims top global IPO market ranking
