New Japanese Textbook Questions Nanjing Massacre, Says China Provoked War

The Asia Peace and History Education Network said that the latest version of a “new” history book that Fusosha middle school in Japan has requested its government to examine for publication has distorted the history of the Sino-Japanese war by saying that it was China that provoked the war. The 2005 version has been supported by the Japan’s rightist group called, “The Japanese Association of History Textbook Reform.” The network said that its distortion of Chinese history is far worse than that of Korean history.

China was responsible for “21 Demands”—

The so-called “21 demands” was a 1915 ultimatum issued by Japan to Yüan Shih-K`ai. Yuan was forced to agree to concessions to Japan, such as the granting of management right to the Southern Manchurian Railroad to Japan.

In the 2001 version, the Japanese text stated that Yüan was “forced” to comply with Japanese demands. In the new version, Japan is portrayed as the nation that made demands, downplaying the incident. The new Japanese textbook also claims that China intentionally leaked the contents of the negotiations and even included non-official demands to make the total “21 demands.” Chinese propaganda encouraged anti-Japanese sentiment as well, according to the 2005 version.

China’s anti-Japanese movement was attributable to the Manchurian Incident?—

The new version has deleted a number of incidents related to the annexation and conquest of Manchuria by the Japanese government and Kwangtung Army, the Japanese Army in China. The 2001 version says that the Manchurian Incident was a war provoked by the Japanese military alone, and had nothing to do with the Japanese government. That content has been terminated in the 2005 version.

Was the Chinese Communist Party responsible for Sino-Japanese War?—

The new version argues that the communists sneaked in Kuomintang agents and encouraged activists to drag Japan into a war. For an explanation, it adds the Xi`an Incident in 1936, when KMT general Zhang Xueliang detained Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, Commander in Chief of National Revolutionary Army of the Kuomintang. However, it deleted the explanation regarding the establishment of a pro-Japanese Manchu state that later were attributable to the Sino-Japanese war.

Was the Nanjing Massacre as severe as reported?-

On the subject of the Nanjing Massacre, the new textbook says that there are many disputes and questions surrounding the atrocities attributed to the Japanese army. The book even goes so far as to deny the ruling of the Tokyo Trial that admitted the Japanese army murdered Chinese in Nanjing by the thousands.

klimt@donga.com