China warns Japan not to mislead people over wartime history

BEIJING - China on Wednesday warned Japan to not propagate misleading versions of its past aggressions and to be wary of wandering onto the dangerous path of militarism.

"The Japanese side should face up to and reflect on history, and draw serious lessons from history," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a daily briefing.

Hua's comments follow two members of Japan's current cabinet said separately on Tuesday that they support using the controversial prewar Imperial Rescript on Education as a teaching material, despite strong protests from opposition parties and the public.

Moreover, according to new education guidelines, Japanese schools should provide students with martial art lessons such as judo, kendo and jukendo (way of the bayonet).

Hua said that Japan's attempt to resume its wartime approach to education likely leads to questions over its taking the old path of war.

These recent moves, Hua said, had caused alarm among peace-loving people in Japan and in the world at large.

Japanese militarists' war of aggression produced serious disasters to the Chinese people and people of other Asian countries, Hua said, urging Japan to make a clean break from its past aggressions and not to mislead Japanese people with wrong version of history, so as to prevent leading Japan onto the dangerous path of militarism.