China calls on Japan to be sensitive to history issues

Hi, Viking68, except for the war crime in WW II, many Chinese people have high regard for Japanese people. Japanese TV, songs, and idols accompanied my childhood , like many Hong Kong people here.

Suppose, the submarine, in itself, is designed for bad-guy purpose, so it may somehow do something unwelcome. Anyway, it is highly unwise to talk about waging a war against any country, human should settle our dispute by peaceful communication.

yeesh, history class fail on both. I see the ensuing diatribes are present

efischer, thank you for the comment and the perspective.

Still, the Chinese navy ran a submarine through Okinawan waters just a few years back. That was the government acting as if it owned the place. Or, maybe they were just sticking their thumb at Japan. Hard to tell. It was not friendly at any rate.

Hi viking68, As a Hong Kong Chinese, I can assure you that the so-called China's claim over Okinawa doesn't exist. No Chinese would take it seriously. No dispute at all. Maybe, a few scholars, not necessarily Chinese, just talk about it for academic discussion only.

From the Asia Times, Oct 23, 2010

China scholars enter Okinawa fray By Kosuke Takahashi

In his Pulitzer-prize-winning book Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, American scholar Herbert Bix wrote that the Okinawa battle "cost an estimated 94,000 to 120,000 Japanese combatants and 150,000 to 170,000 non-combatants, including more than 700 Okinawans whom the Japanese army forced to commit collective suicide. American combat losses were approximately 12,500 killed and more than 33,000 wounded; among these casualties were more than 7,000 sailors, reflecting the toll taken by kamikaze [airplane suicide] attacks."

''If the claims by anti-Japanese protesters were justified, the whole modern world order would collapse,'' Takara of the University of the Ryukyus said. ''They have no legitimate argument. And most of all, unlike Tibetans and people in the Hsinchiang Uighur Autonomous Region, we Okinawans have never asserted our independence from Japan. It's really strange to see Chinese people discussing Okinawa independence by ignoring our own opinions.''

nahamanMAR. 07, 2012 - 08:26PM JST @viking68: China claims Okinawa? Please share (what you've been smoking)

Willing to share sources...

Although not the my source of my claim, I lived on Okinawa for a year and went on a tourist sight seeing trip with an activist native Okinawan. She was very insightful on the Japanese occupation during WWII and on the controversy and hardship once the U.S. gave the islands to Japan. Notice, I didn't say give the islands back to Japan. Okinawa was autonomous before WWII.

Not sure of the source of my recall on China's desire for Okinawa, but a simple Google search pulled up 3.4 million references. Try "China claims Okinawa." The below article appears tilted in a Japanese perspective, but it is similar to what I have heard over time. One reference I recall was a recent Chinese submarine passing through the islands.

Anyway, here is a 2005 article titled: The sovereignty over Okinawa is unsettled? China has eventually revealed its desire

http://www004.upp.so-net.ne.jp/teikoku-denmo/english/history/okinawa.html

I believe that China has it backwards, just like their version of history. China should be the one who should be more sensitive to the RECORDED and DOCUMENTED facts of history, not some made up exaggerated version that suit their political ambitions.

What people don't realize is that Japan does NOT whitewash it's history books. China plays on people emotions and horror and exaggerates history for political purposes.

How to ameliorate the relations between Japan and China:

1/ The Chinese government should tell its Chinese citizens that the Japanese government officially admits that in december 1937 the Japanese Imperial Army seized the previous capital of Nanjing and committed a massacre of 200000 to 300000 people, including many civilians. HIROTA Koki (32nd prime minister and tried during the Tokyo trials for conducting the 1937 Nanjing massacre as foreign minister) and MATSUI Iwane (army general and commander-in-chief of the Central China Area Army, and tried during the Tokyo trials as being responsible for the Nanjing massacre) were considered as class A war criminals and sentenced to death, as was former prime minister TOJO Hideki.

Of course, one can always find a nutcase (like the present mayor of Nagoya) who will say the opposite, but to make such a thing an issue in the bilateral relations between China and Japan, shows of lack of intelligence on behalf of some Chinese nutcases !

2/ Get all American military bases out of Japan (US indiscriminate incendiary bombs on all major Japanese cities during WWII killed more civilians than the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki: the greatest single day massacre in the history of mankind happened during one night on March 10, 1945, when 100000 civilians died in Tokyo), and especially get those US bases out of Okinawa (the US Army killed 200000 Okinawan civilians during World War II).

On the other hand, China should let Japan become a permanent member of the UN security council and let Japan build an own army/navy/air force to defend themselves, perhaps with the cooperation of the Chinese PLA (like the French do with Germans in the context of a common European military force).

3/ Strengthen further the bilateral economic ties (perhaps exploiting togeter the Senkaku islands) and making both the Japan and Chinese economies less dependent on the US economy and the US dollar.

nigelboy

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B2%96%E7%B8%84%E6%88%A6#cite_note-2 60,018 shells, 392,304 grenades, 20,359 rockets, and 30 million rounds of machine gun all from the U.S. side and yet you claim the above???

Good one Nigelboy, l see you and Yuri subscribe to the same school of thought. The one that the US was the only military force on the island and the only ones firing weapons. You conveniently forget to mention the 1000+ Okinawans killed by the Japanese because they spoke a different language, or the thousands starved by the Japanese, or the ones killed by the Japanese for hiding food. It seems you conveniently forget those facts. You also seem to forget the facts that out of the 142,000 Okinawans killed many had been forced into military service by the Japanese, hence became armed soldiers on the Japanese side. You and Yuri kind of forget to mention those facts hey. But dont let the truth get in the way of a good story.

As usual, Cletus basically proves my point that when the Japanese do it, it's "massacre". When the U.S. does it, it's simply a "battle of xxxx" or "bombing of xxxx"

Hmm just out of curiosity how many Okinawans did the US line up and shoot AFTER the battle? How many nigelboy? Can you tell me. Because that my friend is the difference between the two issues but l doubt you can see that.

Also you AGAIN seem to omit that more Okinawans died at the hands of the Japanese troops than the US troops.

WHOA!!!! Is this what they teach in Australia??

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%B2%96%E7%B8%84%E6%88%A6#cite_note-2 60,018 shells, 392,304 grenades, 20,359 rockets, and 30 million rounds of machine gun all from the U.S. side and yet you claim the above???

As usual, Cletus basically proves my point that when the Japanese do it, it's "massacre". When the U.S. does it, it's simply a "battle of xxxx" or "bombing of xxxx"

I ask my Chinese cousins to have more patience. It takes the efforts of both sides and understand your feelings but the actions of the few should not taint the whole. I see the Chinese efforts as not being real. So much effort from Japan is being undone by a few nuts. Again we have free speech in Japan and while worthy it is not always easy.

The Japanese have a unique set of moral principles and concepts for life and death, war and crime, survival of the Japanese people as a whole overrides everything, individuals and other peoples can be sacrificed.

YuriOtani

Cletus, always the denial. So why are you as an Aussie defending the Americans?

Yuri, l am not the one in denial. You are my friend, you are the one who continually points the finger at the US for deaths on Okinawa, your the one constantly crying war crimes and blaming the US for all your woes. Yet when China or another nation tries to remember the horrors you asa nation inflicted you come out with this " China needs to get over it"

Yes the Japanese killed a lot of Chinese by lopping off their heads. I deny nothing but the Americans burned them to death by flamethrowers. That is how my family died at the hands of the Americans. Getting shot or beheaded would of been a mercy.

See you do your standard response "ah yes it happened! But the US was worse." Yes the US did use flame throwers to clear people out of caves l dont deny that. Yes they probably did kill civilians in the process, but and this is a big but did they know at the time that the people in there where civilians, did they know there where definately no Japanese troops in there? See the big difference is the Okinawans where in an active battlefield and intermingled with enemy soldiers. The Chinese where killed after the battle and that is a very big difference, you see the Japanese had this little habit of killing prisoners and civilians AFTER the battle was one something that really doesnt endear one to your enemy. Imagine if you will the US firebombing a Japanese city AFTER Japan surrendered that would equate to Japans actions. Now lm sorry that you say your family died at the hands of Americans. I too lost family members at the hands of the Japanese, the only difference was the members l lost should not have died as they had surrendered and where being held prisoner before their death. Maybe you could look it up just google Sandakan to learn more.

Most Japanese do not deny the Nanking massacre. It happened but why is the killing of Chinese in crossfire different than killing Okinawan people by crossfire?

Thats easy, the people on Okinawa where sadly victims of circumstance they lived on an island that the Japanese decided to make a stand and sadly they paid the price for the Japanese actions. They where not like the Chinese in a city AFTER the action had past. A place that was supposed to be free from fighting. Imagine if the Japanese had been overcome on Okinawa with minimal civilian casualties and then lined up and executed. How would you feel then.

I think the Japanese government needs to stop trying. Nothing we can do will make the haters of Japan stop hating us. I see the hate in America, mention Japan and it comes out in full force.

Actually Yuri there is lots you can do. One thing is actually make a genuine effort to come to grips with these events, you see one major issue l see is your politicians apologise for the actions but then go to the shrine that the very men who committed these actions are interned at and pray there. Imagine if you will Germans saying sorry and then going to Hitlers grave a praying for him. It makes the apology look hollow doesnt it? That is a major issue. You say that Americans get upset, you should try being a foreigner and discussing the war with a Japanese person, the difference is at least we admit our faults maybe something you as a people could learn to do.

Cletus, evidence well Okinawa did not have any neutrals and perhaps the Japanese could use the excuse this American gave in his book. Feifer, George, The Battle of Okinawa, The Lyons Press (2001) pg 374 "There was some return fire from a few of the houses, but the others were probably occupied by civilians – and we didn't care.It was a terrible thing not to distinguish between the enemy and women and children. Americans always had great compassion, especially for children. Now we fired indiscriminately."

Why Japan is held to a higher standard is not right, China needs to get over it. We want to be friends with China but until this happens there will be continued conflict.

YuriOtani not to nitpick but most Chinese were not killed in crossfire. As to Okinawan people suffering, ask the leadership of Japan who picked Okinawa as a proving ground to show the US how bad it would be when they landed on the mainland. Saddam H. was not the first person to seek a "Mother of all Battles" as a way to prove something. Okinawa was picked to be a sacrifice and means to get a settled peace without having the home Islands invaded.

Let’s see Mao is responsible for 40 MILLION Chinese being killed, from 1945-1977. Yet the Chinese are stuck looking at Japan as the bad guy. How about a bit of self-reflection from eveyone all around and then let’s bury the hatchet of WWII once and for all.

Then China can start to explain how their great leader Mao is tied for first in terms of number of people killed by one person. The other is Genghis Khan, who must have been more tenacious as he did it in the 13th century when there were a lot less people around, but still...

nahaman it comes from Xu Yong, noted professor of history at the Beijing University. The claim comes from the fact China never approved of the transformation of the Ryukyu Kingdom to the Okinawa Prefecture. US control and reversion were all illegal which affirms China's right to claim Okinawa.

So next China will demand control of Okinawa. Again it was our ancestors, we are innocent of doing anything to China, Australia, America, etc.

Cletus, always the denial. So why are you as an Aussie defending the Americans? Yes the Japanese killed a lot of Chinese by lopping off their heads. I deny nothing but the Americans burned them to death by flamethrowers. That is how my family died at the hands of the Americans. Getting shot or beheaded would of been a mercy. Most Japanese do not deny the Nanking massacre. It happened but why is the killing of Chinese in crossfire different than killing Okinawan people by crossfire?

I think the Japanese government needs to stop trying. Nothing we can do will make the haters of Japan stop hating us. I see the hate in America, mention Japan and it comes out in full force.

Worldwide call on China to be sensitive to history issues

KuYaniMar. 07, 2012 - 10:22AM JST The Chinese past is not the issue here and most Japanese alive today was not involve in it past history. China is >the agrieved in this case, for past action that led back to Japan, I feel as long as the Japanese deny these past >action of theirs. The Chinese will not let it go

Does the Sino-Japanese Friendship Treaty of 1972 and it;s affirmation of 1978 have any meaning or validity to the Chinese people? Or are treaties signed by the Chinese government worthless pieces of paper?

Again how many deaths make up a massacre? Because that is the key to this argument.

From mass bombing of civlian population to a civilian death as a result of a cross fire, how about we call every military campaign which resulted in civilian death, a "massacre"?

@timtak

Just because Japan has a 'different' attitude towards rape doesn't make what the Imperial 'soldiers' did any more justifiable. Japan's claims of exceptionalism are negated when they push these norms and attitudes onto a sovereign people who have their own standards and norms. They don't get to have the final say. Obviously Japan knows what it did was wrong since it apologised to China, but then made a mockery of this apology in how it chose to shields its population from the truth and created a climate in which high profile politicans could minimise and deny atrocities and not face any backlash or uproar from the public. If the Japanese see what they did as 'ok', based on their own cultural norms, then why omit these crimes from its school text books?

Why don't we put aside the history issue, at least for this week, and ask China to be more sensitive on the Syria issue? The PRC's support for other oppressive regimes that kill their own citizens seems a bit more pressing this week. Once we deal with that, we can go back to complaining about Japanese massacres from 60 years ago.

Firstly I am impressed with the response from Chinese Foreign minister Yeng Jiechi ! It would be very easy for China to simply escalate the current Diaoyu / Senkaku tensions. Japanese government are minnows when it comes to political international relations, especially within Asia. China-Japanese relations have come a long way since the frosty Koizumi years. It would be a shame if such childish island naming incidents and senseless mayoral comments about the Nanjing Massacre were to damage Chian-Japan relations. Kawamura and Ishihara should pull their heads in and concentrate on local issues and politics.

We are in a quite different world than 60 year ago, but in some ways not so different. In other word we are far from perfection as humans, we will make many more mistakes yet in time to come but hopfully less than in the past, sincet we are marching towards perfection in this world. Now, if you have a neighbor and that neighbor is quite bigger than you, even if you have someone defending you, still it is prudent that you do everything to make peace with him.

Now that neighbor got you in is sight for raping his wife and killing his daughters, well you can see the gist of my argument. Even if it take forever he will not forget that, even if it was conjecture still he will not forget that, especially since you have no right to be in his land in the first place, it give him the right to say anything he wants, now get beyond what China does to itself or people inside the country, which country hasen't done something which his unacceptable along the way. The driving issue here is that China is the bigger neighbor in the area and prudence says that you do not make enemy of China, no matter what, you cannot win, even if you have someone supporting you. China is growing so fast it will not stop, so with this in mind it is unwise to let the chance go for settling this issue once and for all..

Auhh, you people you do understand that Nanking was the capitol of ROC and Japan was at war trying to run down the state with ROC troops fighting to defend the fortress city. It was a battle field right before Japan entered.

You can't really "Systematically kill off hundreds of thousands of people as PRC and/or ROC claims since munition was scarce in defending the city from a possible counter attack. The Japanese troops had more on their hands placing guards around the walls, patrolling within the city hunting down the runaway soldiers that fled into the city disguised in peasant's clothes and supervising the seized city. I believe the city walls were around four km at one side adding up to 16 km and there were only about 50 thousand Japanese troops in which around 1/100 were higher up ranking officers. There is a real flaw in what ROC/PRC claimed to what happened examining the numbers in which case you have to look at intent of those claims. Personally I believe it was a mop-up mission that had gone terribly bad.

@viking68: China claims Okinawa? Please share (what you've been smoking)

timtak

I have read your post twice and I think you make some interesting points. Others who comment should only comment after reading more about the issue in detail rather than commenting on current media articles.

Historical event should be truthful ,not sensitive! "Sensitive" can mean anything , depending on political purposes of the day ,while the truth is only ONE.

This is, I think, a fair call by the Chinese. Japan DO need to be more sensitive about this, and not let fools like the mayor of Nagoya and Tokyo's Ishihara make dumb statements that embarrass Japan and deeply upset their neighbors. Those who say China need to clean up their own backyard first need to remember that the same party that starved the country during The Great Leap Forward (to the tune of perhaps 45 million) and tortured, raped, murdered, displaced and imprisoned the populace during the Cultural Revolution still run the country. China are not on the same page as Japan politically, socially or historically yet. The two can't really be compared in this way. But Japan should really know better than to let fools like this speak out of turn in this way. It's just not good enough.

Shumatsu_Samurai: "Perhaps China should lead the way by being sensitive to its own people on historical matters - like not censoring what happened in 1989..."

Sigh... yes, of course, they should -- not to mention all the murders and atrocities that took place under Mao. But it's doesn't mean that because those occurred Japan should ignore it's own atrocities committed against China, Korea, India, Taiwan, Indonesia, etc., and even their own people. Two wrongs don't make a right. What we are getting here is an appeal from China as opposed to the usual bombast, and if both little children in the fray (for that's what they are), could take off the kiddie-gloves and play nice they might learn of all sorts of benefits. China has to do so, of course, but it takes two to tango. Sadly, the focus of the request is on the islands, which means it will not be greeted with any positive response.

As a Hong Kong Chinese, I can say that some Chinese think the Japanese don't admit the war crime because they simply don't think it was wrong to wage the WW II, what went wrong was that they lost the War. The atom bomb forced Japan to surrender and it was done unwillingly.

China may be right about Japan needing to own up a little more, but clearly this "be sensitive to history" stuff is an integral part of its politics and diplomacy. For those interested in how WWII serves as a critical pillar to its foreign and domestic policies, I recommend the book "China's New Nationalism" by Peter Hay Gries. China often implements a "demand apology" to rally its population. For example when a stray US bomb hit the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade in 1999, the Chinese Press actually ran a counter on their newspapers daily to tally how many days it will take for the US to apologize. The Chinese side also refused to consider any US explanation which contested Chinese views that the bombing was deliberate. I recommend the book, it helps to understand how 'demanding apologies' form the cornerstone of China's politics.

@ Timtak

I think whatever you wrote is total nonsense. Rape is bad no matter where and when. First of all your argument is fallacious as there is no scientific/concrete evidence that claim that Japanese have an irregular libido or sorts (anecdotal maybe, science no). Second of all a massacre is somewhat defined by number but it has more to do with how a group of people are killed systematically in a brutal way. For example, the St. Valentine Day massacre led to the death of seven people but the event is defined as a massacre. It's all about the gravity of the crime, not necessarily about the numbers.

timtak,

Having just read your post lm sitting here shaking my head in disbelief. So you are saying there was no massacre, let me ask this what constitutes a massacre? How many people need to die? Regardless of the numbers that the Chinese say the Japanese killed and regardless of the numbers the Japanese say they killed. And the Japanese do admit they killed many civilians in the aftermath. Then it WAS a massacre if the Japanese killed 10, 100, 100, 10000, 100000 Chinese civilians after the action then there was a massacre. The numbers are really irrelevant what is relevant is that innocent civilians, surrendered soldiers where systematically killed by the Japanese military in Nanking. The only thing that is in doubt is the actual numbers and really at what number does murder go from murder to massacre. Is one innocent civilian any less important than 10 innocent civilians?

As for you defence of the rape allegations, who cares less if the Japanese male thinks its his god given right to rape and mutalate innocent women. Its not and its a sad reflection on Japanese society that they believe it is. Really at the end of the day regardless of numbers killed and numbers raped the Japanese armies behaviour in the whole Nanking saga is a disgusting episode and Japans reaction is equally disgusting. We have elected officials, men who the community look up to denying it and downplaying it yet we constantly hear about the poor Japanese suffering as a result of the war. How would these men feel if suddenly the west came out and said "Japan stop complaining your losses where minimal and acceptable and it was 60+ years ago move on" Imagine the outrage, imagine the outrage if during the Hiroshima memorial a foreign politician got up and said oh it never happened you are embellishing the details.

Again how many deaths make up a massacre? Because that is the key to this argument.

oginome

I read Rabe's Diary about four other books including Iris Chang's Rape of Nanking. I feel primary sources are above all important. While Rabe witnessed a great deal of rape, which seemed to have been carried out on a massive scale, and lamented and berated the behaviour of the Japanese, he did not witness or report the witness of massacres except in few occasions. He seemed to have been well networked with others that would hear of massacres and he was not against recording such things - indeed he went out of his way to record the bad behaviour of the Japanese because he thought it bad. I read that other primary sources also do not record massacres, save the records of a second burial task force with imho scant evidence for its existence. My impression overall was that the "Rape of Nankin" really was a Rape to go down in the annals of history (and motivate the expansion of the Comfort Women system), but not a massacre. That was my impression from my own attempt at research. Bearing that in mind, Japanese attempts to "whitewash" the Nankin stems in part from the fact that Japanese historians do not believe there was a massacre, a position which, from my piddling attempts at research, I feel warranted.

Perhaps the rapes should be mentioned in school textbooks. From reading Rabe and other sources (such as the American female teacher who let some of her female students be taken away to be raped by the Japanese, and afterwards returned to the USA and later committed suicide) From my limited reading it almost seemed as if every single woman past puberty in Nankin was raped, often in front of family members.

So I have reached the opinion that lot of what is called Japanese "whitewashing of history" stems in part towards different attitudes towards sex and rape. Indicative of different attitudes towards rape include the fact that it is a very common theme (I counted more than 50%) in Japanese women's erotic comics, and an established genre in Japanese pornography, the existence of women only train carriages, and the difficulty of prosecuting rape in Japan. If a woman enters a mans home, then, I hear, it is almost impossible to prosecute. I do NOT suggest that any Japanese approve of rape, but I believe the male libido is seen as more an inevitable ("shikataganai") force of nature. This contrast sharply with attitudes in the West were the male libido is to be controlled and those that can not are darn right evil. Hence, I think that any army that raped a citiy's women is thought to be evil, quite evil enough to have massacred its men, and any military that had a direct hand in providing 'comfort women' for is soldiers is thought to be downright evil and quite evil enough to have forced those women into sexual slavery as a matter of policy. (As an aside, Rabe noted that officers rarely prevented their men from acts of rape.) It is my considered belief that "the massacre" and "the sexual slavery," are not being whitewashed but rather exaggerated due to the outrage at the contemporary Japanese sex attitudes and sex acts.

This whole issue is just so irresoluble as long as NE Asian countries continue to dredge up the past in order to conceal present shortcomings.....

Okay China! Why don't you lead by example? The top two news stories on this section both mention China asking two different countries to be more sensitive! I am not in any way downplaying what has happened in the past but I do feel that China should also start cleaning 'her' own act up while asking the same of other countries. Tibet and human rights issues come to mind as an example.

The Chinese will always play hurt and cite their version of history to achieve their goals of controlling the Asia-Pacific region.

Japan does similar things, but the degree to which China does it is even more scary. For instance, China is attempting to grab land and economic zones as far away as the Philippians because some Chinese explorer got lost down there a few thousand years ago.

Okinawa is a case in point. China claims Okinawa as theirs, much like the rest of the Asia-Pacific area. China doesn't fight too much over the island, but they still regularly say it is theirs. However, Okinawa was the Okinawan's before China and then Japan invaded them.

Japan cannot placate the Chinese no matter what they do. So, Japan shouldn't try. China only respects power. Give into China just a little, and the Chinese will be sitting at your dinner table before the night is over.

I think a week does not go by where the 4 regional ancient rivals Japan, China, Korea and Russia don't attack/criticize and contradict each others view of history. It is a massive Geo-political fault line ready to crack open at a moments notice.The back and forth mud-slinging can be quite entertaining to an outsider. That is... if it gets ugly.

The Chinese past is not the issue here and most Japanese alive today was not involve in it past history. China is the agrieved in this case, for past action that led back to Japan, I feel as long as the Japanese deny these past action of theirs. The Chinese will not let it go I think that they believe, since the Japanese did not own up to these incidents and deny them out right, that it is possible that they will repeat these actions in the future..

And if they do not have closer for those incidents, they cannot really in good concience trust the Japanese. I feel the Chinese are fishing, checking the Japanese psychology of today, in otherword they are testing for the Japanese national tendencies. Whether these Japanese today are the same kind of people as those in the past, I feel if at anytime they decide they are the same mindset as the Japanese in the past, the relationship with Japan will be on a different footing all together.. They will see Japan as the enemy forever, so it is Japan's best interest that they own up to the incidents, so that in a few years it will be out of the mind of most people, then China and Japan can work on rebuilding a very good relationship.

whitewash its own history In what way? What is China referring to?

Really? The same Japan which omits glaring details from its school text books, which has mayors who engage in massacre denial and yet keep their jobs since there is no uproar from the voters whose interests they were elected to represent, and has politicans who defiantly visit the Yasukuni Shrine every year to pray for the souls of war criminals to the approval of the public is not whitewashing its history?

Japan would be much better off in many respects internationally and at home if its politicians and education bureaucracy were to show much more sensitivity/diplomacy/honesty in regard to the country's past.

However, this is clearly a case of the pot calling the kettle black given the way China refuses to address its brutal past. Sounds like Chinese government officials are once again trying to deflect criticism for the country's own blemished past and current misdeeds again.

this is the coal calling the kettle "Black."

What is China referring to?

Nanjing in particular and colonialist times in general I think.

whitewash its own history In what way? What is China referring to?

Indeed they should, and there are many other things that need to change in China.

But China lying to it's own people does not justify Japan lying about its own history to the Japanese people

Finally, someone gets it. China being a murderous dictatorship still doesn't give Japan any right to whitewash its own history.

Bgood41 Mar. 07, 2012 - 08:15AM JST. China is still marching against the destiny of humanity since chairman Mao's bloody revolution by cherry picking the issue to their games.

China's industrial revolution has been in existance for only three decades. The belief is that the deeper the economic ties between Japan and China, the less the chance of political or security conflagrations down the road as the cost to both sides would be too high. The irony is of course that the deeper the economic ties, the more interdependent the economic relationship between the two countries, the greater the likelihood of trade tensions and other frictions. China’s economic rise should be seen as more of an opportunity than a threat.

Let's speak Chinese: lesson 1) Sensitivity is a matter of internal policy, lesson 2) We are the victims of hacking, economics espionage, copy right violations..., lesson 3) Prefer bilateral negotiation when the adversary is weak, lesson 4) If there are water, there will be fish; and if there are land, there will be Chinese. China is still marching against the destiny of humanity since chairman Mao's bloody revolution by cherry picking the issue to their games.

Japan..... Sensitive..... HAHA as if. Japan is only sensitive if the aggrieved party is Japan otherwise they will just tell you to get over it.

May as well give up China because when it comes to past actions Japan has the monopoly on the victim card

After World War II and the recede in time, bringing memory more in line with history becomes an increasingly important challenge for Japan and China. In this context, accurate history are of great significance. They represent Japan's unequivocal declaration of failure and guilt toward Chinese compatriots. The apologies do not end the historical debate but channel its continuation within norminalized relations. Japan's understanding of history toward China will also be preserved in archives and become an important source for historians. They will remain well documented for future generations, after all WWII survivors have passed away.

@Shumatsu_samurai,

Perhaps China should lead the way by being sensitive to its own people on historical matters - like not censoring what happened in 1989...

Indeed they should, and there are many other things that need to change in China.

But China lying to it's own people does not justify Japan lying about its own history to the Japanese people.

Perhaps China should lead the way by being sensitive to its own people on historical matters - like not censoring what happened in 1989...