Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TOKYO244
2008-01-30 08:36:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tokyo
Cable title:
JAPAN-CHINA PANEL SEEKS TO DEPOLITICIZE HISTORY
how-toVZCZCXRO4686 PP RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHGH RUEHPB RUEHVC DE RUEHKO #0244 0300836 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 300836Z JAN 08 FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1365 INFO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA PRIORITY 8197 RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA PRIORITY 5801 RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO PRIORITY 6409 RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE PRIORITY 9468 RHEHAAA/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY RHMFISS/USFJ PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 000244
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/30/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL CH JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN-CHINA PANEL SEEKS TO DEPOLITICIZE HISTORY
Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer per 1.4 (b/d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 000244
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/30/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL CH JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN-CHINA PANEL SEEKS TO DEPOLITICIZE HISTORY
Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer per 1.4 (b/d)
1. (C) Summary: The Japan-China Joint Historical Research
Committee, formed in October 2006, will complete and publish
this summer a two-volume report containing the views of each
side on several historical periods from ancient times until
the present. The goal of the committee is not to produce a
joint history text, but rather to "depoliticize history" and
begin development of an objective understanding of events
between Japan and China, according the the Japanese team head
and Tokyo University professor. Controversial topics such as
the Nanjing massacre will not be ignored, but nor will they
be given special emphasis. End Summary.
2. (SBU) Japan and China agreed in October 2006 to establish
the Japan-China Joint Historical Research Committee, the goal
of which is to begin development of an objective
understanding about the long history between Japan and China.
The committee, which consists of ten prominent academics and
other representatives from Japan and the PRC, has met three
times since December 2006; the most recent meeting was held
in Beijing earlier this month.
3. (C) As Shinichi Kitaoka -- the head of the Japanese team
and professor of law and politics at Tokyo University -- told
Embassy Tokyo, the goal of the joint history project is not,
as many believe, to produce a joint textbook. Instead, the
Japan-China committee will produce a two-volume report
containing Japanese and Chinese explanations of the same
discrete historical periods, as well as summaries of the two
sides' discussions about where their views and
interpretations differ. The committee has been divided into
two sub-committees, with one focusing on the historical
events prior to the Opium Wars and the other sub-committee
examining events following the Opium War and leading up until
the present, Kitaoka explained.
4. (C) The Chinese had initially been reluctant to include
post-World War II history in the project's ambit, Kitaoka
continued, citing "confusion" about the PRC's Cultural
Revolution. In the committee meeting earlier this month, the
Japanese side pressed to include postwar history because
Japan's peaceful development over the past 60 years is a
necessary counterpoint to wartime and pre-war history;
ultimately, the Chinese side agreed, Kitaoka said. The
Japanese members also suggested, and the Chinese agreed, that
the committee not place "special emphasis" on the Nanjing
massacre and other specific historical events; these events
will instead be treated as part of the "flow of history."
5. (C) Kitaoka said he expects the committee to meet one more
time, perhaps in June or July, to complete and publish the
two volumes. The first of the project's two volumes will
include 16 essays -- eight from each country -- on ancient
history to the Opium Wars. The second volume will have 18
essays -- nine from each side -- and be divided into several
parts: from the Opium Wars to the Manchurian Incident
(1931); from the Manchurian Incident to the Marco Polo Bridge
Incident (1937); from the Marco Polo Bridge Incident to the
conclusion of World War II; and from the end of WWII to the
present. The second volume will also present each side's
views on the current status of history education in both
Japan and China.
6. (C) Perhaps someday, the committee or one of its
successors will be in a position to produce a joint history
text, Kitaoka said (adding that he hopes to step down and
focus on other projects once the committee submits its
product later this year). For the present, however, the
committee's main aim is to "depoliticize history," and
therefore his expectations for the committee's achievements
are modest. "Politicians should discuss the present and the
future, and leave the study of history to historians," he
said.
7. (C) Comment: Interestingly, Kitaoka's comment about
leaving history to the historians (as opposed to politicians)
has been repeated a number of times to Embassy Tokyo by Diet
members on both sides of aisle, including up-and-coming
conservative standard bearer Yasuhide Nakayama. Hopefully
this will augur well for the depoliticization, if not
disappearance, of the history issue in Sino-Japanese
relations. End Comment.
SCHIEFFER
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/30/2018
TAGS: PGOV PREL CH JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN-CHINA PANEL SEEKS TO DEPOLITICIZE HISTORY
Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer per 1.4 (b/d)
1. (C) Summary: The Japan-China Joint Historical Research
Committee, formed in October 2006, will complete and publish
this summer a two-volume report containing the views of each
side on several historical periods from ancient times until
the present. The goal of the committee is not to produce a
joint history text, but rather to "depoliticize history" and
begin development of an objective understanding of events
between Japan and China, according the the Japanese team head
and Tokyo University professor. Controversial topics such as
the Nanjing massacre will not be ignored, but nor will they
be given special emphasis. End Summary.
2. (SBU) Japan and China agreed in October 2006 to establish
the Japan-China Joint Historical Research Committee, the goal
of which is to begin development of an objective
understanding about the long history between Japan and China.
The committee, which consists of ten prominent academics and
other representatives from Japan and the PRC, has met three
times since December 2006; the most recent meeting was held
in Beijing earlier this month.
3. (C) As Shinichi Kitaoka -- the head of the Japanese team
and professor of law and politics at Tokyo University -- told
Embassy Tokyo, the goal of the joint history project is not,
as many believe, to produce a joint textbook. Instead, the
Japan-China committee will produce a two-volume report
containing Japanese and Chinese explanations of the same
discrete historical periods, as well as summaries of the two
sides' discussions about where their views and
interpretations differ. The committee has been divided into
two sub-committees, with one focusing on the historical
events prior to the Opium Wars and the other sub-committee
examining events following the Opium War and leading up until
the present, Kitaoka explained.
4. (C) The Chinese had initially been reluctant to include
post-World War II history in the project's ambit, Kitaoka
continued, citing "confusion" about the PRC's Cultural
Revolution. In the committee meeting earlier this month, the
Japanese side pressed to include postwar history because
Japan's peaceful development over the past 60 years is a
necessary counterpoint to wartime and pre-war history;
ultimately, the Chinese side agreed, Kitaoka said. The
Japanese members also suggested, and the Chinese agreed, that
the committee not place "special emphasis" on the Nanjing
massacre and other specific historical events; these events
will instead be treated as part of the "flow of history."
5. (C) Kitaoka said he expects the committee to meet one more
time, perhaps in June or July, to complete and publish the
two volumes. The first of the project's two volumes will
include 16 essays -- eight from each country -- on ancient
history to the Opium Wars. The second volume will have 18
essays -- nine from each side -- and be divided into several
parts: from the Opium Wars to the Manchurian Incident
(1931); from the Manchurian Incident to the Marco Polo Bridge
Incident (1937); from the Marco Polo Bridge Incident to the
conclusion of World War II; and from the end of WWII to the
present. The second volume will also present each side's
views on the current status of history education in both
Japan and China.
6. (C) Perhaps someday, the committee or one of its
successors will be in a position to produce a joint history
text, Kitaoka said (adding that he hopes to step down and
focus on other projects once the committee submits its
product later this year). For the present, however, the
committee's main aim is to "depoliticize history," and
therefore his expectations for the committee's achievements
are modest. "Politicians should discuss the present and the
future, and leave the study of history to historians," he
said.
7. (C) Comment: Interestingly, Kitaoka's comment about
leaving history to the historians (as opposed to politicians)
has been repeated a number of times to Embassy Tokyo by Diet
members on both sides of aisle, including up-and-coming
conservative standard bearer Yasuhide Nakayama. Hopefully
this will augur well for the depoliticization, if not
disappearance, of the history issue in Sino-Japanese
relations. End Comment.
SCHIEFFER