Joint Japan-China history project stops short of modern times
Tokyo ,Japan Dev 25 2009, A joint history research project between the Japanese and Chinese governments will not cover the post-war period in its report to be released in January, it has been learned.
The decision was made at the final meeting of the joint history study project, which was launched in 2006, held at a Tokyo hotel on Thursday.
While the full text of the project's report will be released in January, post-war history, including the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident, will be omitted from the report. The move was apparently triggered by Chinese concerns over the possibility of the issue leading to criticism of the incumbent Chinese administration.
On the other hand, the report covers the Nanjing massacre, with views of both Japan and China included.
The report is expected to influence outstanding issues between the two countries, including the development of natural gas fields in the East China Sea and the conflict over the Senkaku islands.
Following Thursday's meeting, University of Tokyo Graduate School professor Shinichi Kitaoka, who headed the Japanese research team, and Bu Ping, director of the Institute of Modern History at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, held a press conference to release the preface of the report.
"It is difficult to take up issues that are directly connected to our times. There is a great difference in views between Japan and China over such issues as the Cold War, the Korean War and the Peace Treaty signed in San Francisco," Kitaoka said.
Bu agreed: "We need to take it into consideration what effect it would have on the public (to take up those issues)."
The two researchers revealed that both parties also took different standpoints on the Tiananmen Square incident and the Emperor's visit to China in 1992.
Meanwhile, both parties agreed that there were "massacres (in Nanjing) for which Japan is to blame," according to Kitaoka. However, the background and the cause of the incident, as well as the number of casualties, will be subject to future investigation, they said.
According to sources close to the project, China insisted on its officially released number of casualties at 300,000, while Japan maintained that there were several tens of thousands to 200,000 victims.
The joint research project was launched in December 2006, following an agreement at a Japan-China summit in October the same year, with the aim of removing a rift created by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni Shrine through dialogue among researchers from both countries.
The compilation of the report, which carries views of both Japanese and Chinese researchers involved in the project by eras, had been postponed twice at the request of Chinese researchers, in July last year and September this year.
"The report fully evaluates the peaceful path that Japan has taken in the post-war era and its official development assistance (ODA) for China," Bu said.
Both parties have agreed to continue their joint history research, but they have yet to determine a specific timetable for any future project.
(Mainichi Japan) December 25, 2009
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