CHINESE Prime Minister Wen Jiabao told Japan to "face up to history" and own up to the human rights abuses it inflicted on the Chinese people during World War II. Anti-Japan sentiment has been high in China since last week, when Japan approved school textbooks which critics say gloss over its wartime atrocities. One of the eight texts is an updated version of a book which triggered diplomatic protests in 2001. Wen said the strong Chinese response should make Tokyo seriously reconsider its bid for a UN Security Council seat. Both countries have used public and diplomatic channels to trade accusations over the row. On Monday Japanese leader Junichiro Koizumi described attacks at the weekend on Japanese property and citizens in China as "extremely regrettable". Speaking at the end of a trip to India, Wen said on Tuesday that "the core issue in China-Japan relations is that Japan needs to face up to history squarely." In a signal of China's unease at Japan's efforts to secure a permanent UN Security Council seat, Wen also said the protests should prompt Tokyo to "have deep and profound reflections" on the issue. "Only a country that respects history, takes responsibility for past history and wins over the trust of people in Asia and the world at large can take greater responsibility in the international community," he said. Despite increased trade between the two countries, the conduct of the Japanese army during its conquest of eastern China in the first half of the 20th Century continues to inflame passions on both sides. China says the textbooks recently approved by Tokyo underplay Japan's military brutalities. One book refers to the Japanese slaughter of some 300,000 civilians in the Chinese city of Nanjing in 1937 as an "incident", rather than the "massacre" it is known as elsewhere. On Saturday a 10,000-strong gathering marched in Beijing to voice their anger at the textbooks -- the city's biggest protest since 1999. Demonstrators attacked the Japanese Embassy, as well as a restaurant and some Japanese students -- with protests spreading to other parts of China on Sunday. Observers argued that the scale and ferocity of the unrest were unusual for China, and indicated tacit official support for the protesters. The text books have also sparked complaints from South Korea. Seoul said the new books sought to glorify Japan's war-time past, a continuing source of regional tension. The move follows a row between Japan and South Korea over disputed islands. The South Korean Embassy in Japan said in a statement: "The Republic of Korea expresses regret over the fact that some of the 2006 Japanese middle school text books... still contain content that justifies and glorifies wrongs committed in the past." The Japanese government, which says it can only press textbooks to be amended if they contain factual errors, said it was up to individual school districts to decide which books they use. Schools have until August to make the choice. The books will be in junior high schools from April 2006. The most controversial of the new books was written by a group of nationalist historians called the Society for History Textbook Reform, and its first version, published in 2001, caused Seoul to recall its ambassador for nine days in protest. The Chinese ambassador to Japan on Tuesday singled out this book for criticism.
