An annual protest to mark the Marco Polo bridge incident of 1937 is snowballing into a possible diplomatic row, with the Japanese consulate in Hong Kong officially complaining about comfort women statues that protesters have put up.

According to Kyodo, the Japanese officials have asked the Hong Kong government to remove two life-size statues protesters placed outside its consulate in Central in the morning today.

The Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands group placed the fiberglass statues there to mark the 80th anniversary of the Marco Polo bridge incident – a skirmish that eventually led to all-out war between China and Japan in 1937.

They said they plan to keep the statue there till December 13 – date that marks the start of 1937 Nanjing massacre – as a part of their ‘marathon protest’ program.

The figures hold small bouquets of white flowers, while their bare feet trod on posters of the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, superimposed on top of the wartime Rising Sun Flag.

Protesters from the Action Committee for Defending the Diaoyu Islands explained that they put the statues there to press Tokyo for compensation for the many victims and their families.

The row echoes an incident in Busan, South Korea where protesters placed a comfort women statue near the Japanese consulate there. That incident blew up into a major diplomatic row between the countries.

"Comfort women” is a euphemism for women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Army in occupied territories before, and during the Second World War.-AP