China has noticed Japan's further revision of a new-edition history textbook for high school and it will reserve its right for further response, said Zhang Qiyue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Wednesday.
The history textbook compiled by Japanese right-wing scholars received wide condemnation from its neighboring Asian countries, including China and the Republic of Korea in 1986 when it was first published. The textbook then had to put into considerable rewriting before its final publication in 1991 and 1996, Zhang said.
China has learned that the history textbook was revised again recently, the spokeswoman said, and will watch its progress.
The core essence of the history text book issue lies in whether Japan can correctly recognize and handle its invasion to China and other Asian nations during World War II.
China hopes that the Japanese government will properly handle the issue in accordance with the promises it had made and with the attitude to be responsible for both history and future, Zhang said.
(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2002)
