u=793281621,1640868941&fm=90&gp=0.jpg (Photo : baidu.com)
An announcement from Japan's Ministry of Education that it will revise the teaching manuals for junior and senior high school to state that the disputed Diaoyu Islands is an "integral part of Japan" was met with strong negative reactions from China.
China's Foreign Minsitry spokeswoman, HuaChunying, called on Japan not to distort historical facts, teach their students only correct historical information, cease provocations and build better relations with its neighboring countries. Japan's Minister for Education, Hakubun Shimomura, said the revised teaching manuals will have an added reference to the controversial Diaoyu Islands. The minister stressed that the said islands rightfully belong to Japan and their claim to ownership of the islands is undisputable.
Hua debunked the Japanese minister's statement, stressing that the Diaoyu Islands have long been part of Chinese territory dating back to ancient times. This basic truth, Hua added, can never be altered despite Japan's efforts to push ahead with its wrong claims on the islands.
The revision of the Japanese manuals was directed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to gain bigger support from the Japanese people for the rightist agenda he is pushing, according to Zhang Yong, an authority on Japanese affairs from the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "Abe wants to expand his definition about Japan's territory and expects Japanese people to accept his definition and follow his policies. The best way for Abe to do so is through educating the younger generation," Zhang said.
It has been customary for Japan to revise its educational guidelines and manuals every 10 years. This year's planned revision comes earlier than the expected schedule of revision in 2016.
For many years, revisions on the Japanese education manuals on Japanese history have invariably caused some strain between Japan and China, said Zhang.
"But Japan never had such a high-profile revision. The Abe administration's pushing the revision earlier than scheduled is part of the trend of growing right-wing forces in Japan," Zhang added.
