Scholar calls reaction of South Korea and China to Japanese textbooks childish
Japanese scholar derides reaction to sovereignty claims over islands contained in schoolbooks
A Japanese scholar has branded as "childish" the reactions in South Korea and China to new school textbooks that describe disputed islands as Japanese territory.
Japan's Education Ministry on Tuesday approved a range of new textbooks for the school year that starts in April next year, with two geography books and six covering politics and economics stating that the Diaoyu, or Senkaku, islands and the Takeshima islands, which South Korea calls Dokdo, belong to Japan.
Hong Lei, spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, dismissed Japan's position and repeated Beijing's claim to the Diaoyu Islands. "We hope the Japanese side faces up to history and reality, corrects mistakes and takes concrete steps to improve bilateral relations," Hong said.
The response was much stronger in South Korea, which stations a police unit on the Dokdo/Takeshima islands.
Takashi Kurai, the deputy head of mission at the Japanese embassy in Seoul, was summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday and received a protest against the decision to approve the textbooks. The ministry said South Korea "strongly protests against Japan for not looking squarely at history and having approved textbooks containing content that evades its responsibility, and we demand corrections to such textbooks".
Yoichi Shimada, a professor of international relations at Fukui Prefectural University, said it was "quite natural" for books used in Japanese high schools to clearly and unequivocally state that the islands are part of Japan.