Risking new rows with its neighbors, Japan yesterday authorized for school use a nationalist-written history textbook which China and South Korea accuse of glossing over Japan's wartime atrocities.
The education ministry said it approved the controversial book as one of eight that can be used to instruct students aged 13 to 15 from April next year. The book is an updated version of the textbook which triggered formal protests from Beijing and Seoul upon its release in 2001.
Approval came days after mobs attacked Japanese businesses in China, denouncing Japan for seeking a permanent UN Security Council seat while failing to show regret for its occupation of the country before and during World War II.
South Korea told Japan last month that it disapproved of the textbook. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said yesterday that Japan was ready to discuss the issue with Seoul. The two countries' foreign ministers are to meet tomorrow in Pakistan on the sidelines of an Asian regional meeting.
In approving the revised textbook, the ministry demanded 124 changes to tone down some of the right-wing assertions, but other deeply controversial points remain.
The book avoids the word "invasion" when it refers to Japan's military occupation of other Asian countries in the first half of the 20th century. It teaches students that "no single country steered completely clear of killing or abusing unarmed people," while admitting the Japanese military was among those that committed "unfair murder and abuse" of people of enemy countries.
The textbook was adopted in 2002 by less than 0.1 percent of schools, all of them for children with disabilities, although it became an instant bestseller when it went on sale at general bookstores in mid-2001.
Meanwhile, Hosoda said, a boycott of Japanese goods advocated by a group of Chinese retailers would hurt China's economy and would probably not be tolerated by Beijing. The China Chain Store and Franchise Association has called for a boycott of Japanese goods as a protest against Japanese textbooks which it says misrepresent Japan's role in World War II.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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