The more the chinese people suffer and the more it's publicized, the more international sympathy and sometimes eventually aid that brings them. A photo like that is a i if you're a reporter and you're trying to move public opinion and somebody hands you that photo, that's gold. It's weird, isn't it? But that's how they teach a reporter for pe in the news business. I mean, if it bleeds, it leads, and please localize your story so people care. This is an example of both those things.
The Asia-Pacific War of 1937-1945 has deep roots. It also involves a Japanese society that's been called one of the most distinctive on Earth. If there were a Japanese version of Captain America, this would be his origin story.