China urged Japan on Thursday to face up to its past and reality, and to teach the younger generation the correct history after the Japanese government asked schools to teach students that the Diaoyu Islands are Japanese territory.

On Wednesday, Japan's Education Ministry released manuals for new national curriculum guidelines. These require that social studies materials in elementary and middle schools explain that the Diaoyu Islands are "inherent parts" of Japanese territory, The Japan Times reported.

Japan's curriculum guidelines are revised about every 10 years, and the new guidelines are to be introduced in stages starting in 2020, the report said.

"No matter what Japan says or does, it can't change the fact that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China," Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a daily news conference in Beijing.

In March, senior high school textbooks approved by Japan's Education Ministry also described the islands as its "inherent territory".

"The Diaoyu Islands and affiliated islands have been China's inherent territory since ancient times. China is unswerving in its determination and resolve to maintain its territorial sovereignty," Geng said.

He also urged Japan to face up to history and facts, stop provocation and educate the younger generation with the correct view of history, "to avoid creating new disturbances in the China-Japan relationship".

China-Japan ties plunged in 2012 when the Japanese government unilaterally decided to "nationalize" China's Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.

mojingxi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/23/2017 page3)