China urges Japan to respect history, stop provoking

China on Tuesday urged Japan to respect historical fact, stop provoking, and educate the younger generation with a correct view of history, as Japan is set to revise its textbook guidelines on the Diaoyu islands. "The Diaoyu Islands and their affiliated isles have been an inherent part of Chinese territory since ancient times," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a regular press briefing. The Japanese education ministry will claim the Diaoyu Islands as Japan's inherent territory in the new guidelines for junior middle school and high school textbooks. "We are greatly concerned about that and have lodged solemn representation to the Japanese side," Hua said. Japan's efforts in promoting its wrong stance can never change the fundamental fact that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China, she said. Hua urged Japan to take solid actions to improve relations with its neighbors. Japan's relations with China and the Republic of Korea have been tense due to disputes on territorial and historical issues. Relations have been especially tense since the Japanese government nationalized the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea in 2012 and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's December visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese World War II criminals are honored.