Date post: | 24-Dec-2015 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | sherman-cole |
View: | 233 times |
Download: | 1 times |
Chinese-Japanese
History Textbook Dispute
Yan Kaidi 4S1Yan Tianqi 4S1
Content Background Dispute Case Study Reasons
Background controversial content in government-appr
oved history textbooks used in the secondary education
Background School textbooks in Japan are not written
by the Ministry of Education. Instead, the textbooks are written and pu
blished by several major private companies.
Background However, each local education board has
the final authority to select which textbooks can be used in their jurisdiction from the approved list.
Dispute Critics claim that the government
textbook authorization system has rejected textbooks that depict Imperial Japan in a negative light.
Dispute Countries like China criticized Japan for
whitewashing the nature of military aggression in WWII.
Downplays events like Nanjing Massacre, ‘Comfort Women’
Ask Japan to modify certain contents
Dispute Although Japanese Society for History
Textbook Reform published New History Textbook intending to promote a comprehensive view of Japan in WWII
This textbook was still criticized by China and other Asian countries for downplaying the Japan invasion
Dispute On the other hand, the new textbook was
also opposed by many Japanese historians They feel that the new textbook should not
emphasize so much on Japanese wartime activities
Hence, this textbook was used by only 0.039% of junior high schools in Japan
Dispute Relationship between Japan and other
Asian counties becomes tense due to history textbook issue
In 2005, with the approval of new Japanese history textbooks, people in neighboring countries broke out anti-Japanese demonstrations
Dispute The Anti-Japanese demonstrations of
2005 were a series of demonstrations which were held across most of East Asia in the spring of 2005.
Mainly in China, South & North Korea
Dispute Across China, businesses with connection
s to Japan were vandalized by protesters
Dispute
Dispute The official PRC attitude towards the
demonstrations is considered to be enigmatic. On the one hand, the government allowed the
demonstrations to occur in the first place. While the PRC policed the protests, some
observers believe that measures to rein in the violence and property damage were deliberately ineffective.
Dispute In Japan, no large-scale anti-PRC rallies
or demonstrations took place Nevertheless, more and more people
canceled their travel plans to China, and some doubt was raised about the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing
Dispute Besides, The Japanese government
demanded an apology from the PRC government
Japanese government asks compensations for the damage made to the properties of their diplomatic missions
Dispute The Japanese foreign minister once
visited Beijing to meet his counterpart. the Japanese negotiators demanded an
apology and compensation for damage against Japanese property and people.
That demand was rejected by Li Zhaoxing, the Chinese foreign minister.
Case study Nanjing Massacre in China’s
textbooks1. In China’s textbook, there are
descriptions on the fall of the Capital, Nanjing and the massacre in the city.
2. The knowledge of the massacre is an important part of history study of Chinese students.
Nanjing Massacre in Japan’s textbooks
1. Before 1982, the textbooks were quite biased, and even tried to fade the meaning of invasion.
2. After 1982, the content on the massacre increased relatively, but still very ambiguous.
Case study
Case study
Case study Also, the estimates of death tolls
varies dramatically China claims that at least 340
thousand people were killed during the massacre
On the other hand, Japan only admits about 100000 to 200000 death tolls.
Reasons Nationalism is the main reason for the
history textbook dispute between China and Japan
China, once being invaded by Japan, will not tolerate any whitewashing of Japanese military invasion
Consider this as an insult to its national dignity
Reasons Some Japanese, especially those right-
leaning extremists, still consider Japan as one of the most powerful nations in the world
Will never apologize for any mistake it has made before
Reasons Also, some people believe that CCP used anti-
Japanese sentiments to promote nationalism, hence consolidating its political power in China
anti-Japanese sentiment in China is higher among the current generation than among the Chinese who actually lived through the occupation of the Second Sino-Japanese War
Referencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Japanese_sentiment_in_China
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_history_textbook_controversies
http://www.wellesley.edu/Polisci/wj/China/Nanjing/nanjing3.html
http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/discussionpapers/2008/Shibuichi.html
http://www.ahrchk.net/news/mainfile.php/ahrnews_200103/1595/
Thank You!