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Items left over from Japan's invasion and occupation of China during World War II have been discovered recently in the capital of Guangdong Province, adding to the evidence China is using to condemn an official Japanese history textbook.
According to the municipal cultural bureau, five hangars built for the invading Japanese troops during the war were found in Guangzhou in its ongoing survey of historical sites and relics which has lasted more than one year.
One of the hangars was located in Tianhe District, said an expert, surnamed Chen, of the bureau. Built with bricks and cement, it was some eight meters high, 30 meters long and around two meters deep. Time has blurred the red characters on the facade of the structure.
The bureau has filed a request with the municipal government for measures to be taken to conserve the five hangars and to use them as "education bases for cultivating patriotism," Chen said.
Two blockhouses left by Japanese troops have also been found in Tianhe District, on the top of a hill overlooking scores of kilometers around the Tianhe Airport, said Chen.
Two more blockhouses constructed of reinforced concrete were discovered at Huangge Town of Panyu District. A 100-meter trench with gunports connected the two structures.
Chen said there were about a dozen similar structures built or used by the invading Japanese troops in Guangzhou, and they were found with the help of local war survivors.
A village pillaged by Japanese troops was discovered in Fuhe Town. Old villagers recalled that on the night of Jan. 30, 1940, Japanese soldiers ravaged Gangwayao Village, and one was killed by villagers. The next day, the soldiers slaughtered 128 villagers. Only three villagers survived the atrocity.
New discoveries also included sites of frontline brothels for comfort women. Most of the structures have been rebuilt, according to Chen.
Japan's official adoption of a new edition of a history textbook, which critics say "whitewashes" Japan's past history of aggression, stirred fury across China Tuesday.
The Chinese government expressed strong indignation at the approval of the right-wing textbook which "confounds black and white," said Vice-Foreign Minister Qiao Zonghuai.
"The textbook will be vehemently condemned by people from all Asian countries that have been victimized by Japan, including the Chinese," said Qiao, demanding the Japanese government honor its commitments regarding history and calling for measures to offset any negative impact it may have.
The updated book refers to the 1937 Nanjing Massacre -- in which some historians say at least 300,000 civilians and disarmed soldiers were killed by Japanese troops -- as an "incident" in which "many" Chinese were slain.
"The just-approved textbooks would disrupt the international order and seriously undermine the confidence of Japan's Asian neighbors in regional peace and security," Wang Xuan, a Chinese activist now leading a legal group to assist World War II victims suing Japan for damages inflicted by germ warfare.
Like Guangzhou, many places across China continued to have new evidence found to justify Chinese people's strong disapproval of the new textbook.
(Xinhua News Agency April 17, 2005)
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