Beijing condemns Tokyo over textbook revision

China warned Japan on Wednesday to stop provocation over the sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands, after Tokyo further strained bilateral ties with China, requiring Japanese elementary and middle schools to include into their textbooks that the Diaoyu Islands belong to Japan.

The Japanese education ministry on Tuesday announced a draft of new curriculum guidelines, which require elementary and middle schools to teach students that a group of disputed islands, including China's Diaoyu Islands, are territories of Japan.

It was the first time Tokyo made such a decision, and demanded schools do this in accordance with the government's requirements. The release of the draft guidelines came after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, during his White House visit, reignited territorial row with neighboring countries.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Wednesday urged the Japanese government to "respect history, stop provocation, use correct view of history to educate the youngsters, and meanwhile to take real actions to show their sincerity of improving China-Japan relations."

Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump affirmed in Washington DC that Article 5 of the U.S.-Japan security treaty covered the Diaoyu Islands, triggering strong opposition from Beijing. The Chinese Foreign Ministry reiterated that the Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islets are China's inherent territory, and the country will never waver in its determination to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

South Korea also condemned Tokyo over its textbook revision decision, which also required schools to state the Dokdo Island (known as Takeshima by Japan) belongs to Japan. Seoul reclaimed Dokdo with its liberation from the Japanese colonial ruling between the 1910s and 1940s, and the islets are now under the control of South Korea.