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BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- China on Tuesday reiterated its sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islets after new Japanese history textbooks described them as Japanese territory.
China is seriously concerned about Japan's revisions to the textbooks, said Foreign Ministry representative Hua Chunying at a routine press conference.
Japan's Education Ministry approved 18 textbooks on history, civics and geography on Monday that will be used from next year in junior high schools.
The newly revised textbooks contain the Japanese government's stance and claims in territorial disputes with its neighbors. About 18 types of the new books say the disputed territories are Japan's.
Hua reaffirmed that the Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated islets have been an inherent part of China and that China has abundant historical and legal evidence to prove it.
No matter how Japan tries to propagandize its position on the islands, it will never change the objective fact that China has sovereignty over them, Hua said.
Some textbooks also have new interpretations of Japan's atrocities during World War II.
Of the Nanjing Massacre, some textbooks state that "captives and civilians were involved" in the tragedy and "casualties were exposed", compared to the original words that the Japanese Army "killed many captives and civilians." That "Japan's atrocity was condemned" has been deleted from some books.
"Facts are facts. They should never be distorted," said Hua, urging Japan to educate its younger generation correctly, fulfill its commitment to face up to history and reflect on its militarist aggression, and improve ties with its neighbors through practical action.
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BEIJING, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Japan's recent revisions of history textbooks have once again laid bare Tokyo's unapologetic stance on its past crimes and sent a chill into its defrosting relations with China and South Korea.
Japan's move has raised concerns among East Asian countries over its attitude toward wartime atrocities, as historical issues along with territorial ones play a decisive role in its relations with those countries. Full story
Historical revisionism exposed in Japan's newly reviewed textbooks
TOKYO, April 6 (Xinhua) -- Historical revisionism was exposed in Japan's new textbooks for junior high school reviewed by the Education Ministry, according to the review results released by the ministry Monday.
Some reviewed textbooks to be used in the next year, in line with the country's increasingly right-leaning politics under the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration, revised their expressions over Japan's wartime atrocities during the World War II and colonial rule on the Korean Peninsula. Full story
