The Sino-Japanese War is redefined

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/13/china-rewrites-history-books-to-extend-sino-japanese-war-by-six-years
Actually, I neither find this sinister, nor unrealistic, nor particularly original.  This has been a long-held belief among more than one American military historian for many years.  I happen to agree with it myself.  Why the province of Manchuria should be regarded as being in another space/time makes no sense to me.