China and Japan will jointly launch a history study next week in
Beijing, the first of its kind. The move is to narrow differences
and improve bilateral ties.
The two sides have each appointed a 10-member team to take part
in the two-day meeting, starting from December 26.
Agencies quoted Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa
Shiozaki as saying the two teams, comprising scholars in history,
international politics and diplomacy will be headed respectively by
Chinese modern history scholar Bu Ping and Japanese former UN
ambassador Shinichi Kitaoka.
Discussions will be divided between two panels: One will focus
on ancient, medieval and early-modern history and the other on
modern and contemporary history.
The Chinese experts are either senior researchers with the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) or professors with Peking
University.
"Japan-China relations have extended for about 2,000 years from
ancient times through now," Shiozaki said, "(The joint research) is
to promote a more objective understanding of the history through
frank discussions."
President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
agreed in October during the latter's visit to Beijing to start a
joint history study by the end of the year, aimed at deepening
knowledge of the history and enhancing mutual understanding.
China and Japan's foreign ministers later at an APEC meeting
exchanged practical ideas on establishing such a joint study,
agreeing to release the outcome by the end of 2008
Bu Ping, director of the Institute of Modern History of CASS,
said the joint study will be developed into a certain mechanism and
will be held regularly in the future.
He said no specific issues will be discussed at the first
meeting, instead, it will concentrate on the working process,
principles and purposes.
Shinzo Abe met with the 10 Japanese history scholars on Monday.
He said such a discussion would be meaningful and of interest to
both countries.
Shinichi Kitaoka, now a Tokyo University professor, told
Japanese reporters that the current gap in historical
interpretations between Japan and China remains too wide and the
first task would be to try and narrow it.
Japan has held a similar joint history study with South Korea,
its another close neighbor, which also suffered from Japanese
wartime aggressions. It is reported that Tokyo and Seoul have
agreed on the need to launch a second round soon.
(China Daily December 20, 2006)
