Recently there are a lot of anti-Japanese sentiment over a Japanese textbook that omits wartime atrocities. Even though I disapprove Japan's move on this issue. I must say that the Chinese texts omit more history than Japanese texts.

Here are some of the things that are missing..

The 1989 crackdown on democracy demonstrations, when Chinese troops killed hundreds and possibly thousands of unarmed protesters.


The estimated 30 million Chinese who starved to death during the 1958-61 "Great Leap Forward," revolutionary leader Mao Zedong's attempt to speed up China's farm and factory output through mass collectivization.

Textbooks gloss over ally North Korea's invasion of South Korea at the start of the 1950-53 Korean War, a conflict that drew in troops from the United States and other countries on the side of the South and China's army in support of the North.

The texts say only that "civil war broke out," without mentioning how it started. America is portrayed as an invader that forced Beijing to intervene by threatening Chinese territory.

There is more...
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/as....ap/index.html

what you gonna do, can't say that other countries haven't done the same. In the us, the books admit to the bad times like japanese internment and how it was ignorant to do so, but then softened the decisions with the feelings of the time. You get a sense of the book trying to make america sound pretty good, just not blameless for the past. I think it has to do with the sophistication level of the readers like middle schoolers and highschoolers. If it was an in depth college course, then it would be different. I know that my current text on american government reveals a lot of things i never knew about our functioning government. But that's for AP classes, i don't know about the regular, i guess it's dumbed down somewhat.

but leaving out the mass famine, that's retarded.

Red_Army... Japan's WWII atrocities has no connection with China's crack down on Tien'an Men square. China's bad policies towards its own people need to be dealt with in other movement. It should not be used to judge anger's arised from Japan's refusal of admitting its wrong doings.

Are you suggesting Japan need not to apologize for its wrong doings in WWII because China's bad policy towards its people in the 60s, 70s, and 1989?

A lie can also be an act of omission but a lie is a lie any way you cut it. I personally can't stand liars and thieves.

one is civil and other is war crimes

its completely on two different grounds


off course everybody knew about the cultural revolution, its the major issue and conflict in china today

no need to put it in the text books, everybody knew about 89, and that hundreds of people died. there is no disortions in that, unless some western guy claims thousands killed, which is unjustified

deaths due to mao's 5 year forward, well everybody knew people starved during that time, no need to hide it

Originally Posted by MadeInChina

no need to put it in the text books, everybody knew about 89, and that hundreds of people died. there is no disortions in that, unless some western guy claims thousands killed, which is unjustified

deaths due to mao's 5 year forward, well everybody knew people starved during that time, no need to hide it

The problem with what you are saying about "Western Sources" is that the disputing sources are not Western at all. The disagreeing sources are things like the Chinese Red Cross and the Students themselves.

Wikipedia is a very nonbiased source of information. They don't take sides and as you can see, they are not taking sides. Just reporting all potentially reliable accounts and letting the reader sort it out for themselves. It would seem unlikely for the PRC's sanitized account to be 100% reliable as a source.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiananm...otests_of_1989

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

On May 4, approximately 100,000 students and workers peacefully marched in Beijing demanding democratic reforms and protesting government corruption. On May 20 the government declared martial law. However, the demonstrations continued. After deliberation among Communist party leaders, the government ordered a forceful military resolution. Troops and tanks from China's 27th Army advanced into Tiananmen Square. On June 3 and 4, the People's Liberation Army violently confronted the pro-democracy supporters. Estimates of civilian deaths vary: 400-800 (New York Times & Hammond sources (http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat7.htm#Chinat)), 2600 (Chinese Red Cross) and the Students maintain that over 7000 were killed. Injuries are generally held to have numbered from 7,000 to 10,000, including casualties among PLA troops. Following the violence, the government conducted widespread arrests to suppress the remaining supporters of the movement, limited access for the foreign press and controlled coverage of the events in the Chinese press. The violent suppression of the Tiananmen Square protest caused widespread international condemnation of the Chinese government.

Go to the link for the complete article.

Didn't you hear Red Army? The 1989 demonstrations "never really happened" and the pictures of the demonstration were "doctored up by protestors elsewhere" and that nowhere can you find any evidence of students getting killed.

but you seem to be ignoring the death of soldiers, radical student leaders and their great escapes and how they betrayed their followers, the riots that occured, destruction of vehicles, taiwan/hk elements that finianced this and supported this to a point where the students were partically brainwashed


to look at this, you need to have both persepctive


400 students for the great developemtn and economy today, id say its worth it, so we ddont change so radically that we might be the next russia

Hi,

400 students for the great developemtn and economy today, id say its worth it, so we ddont change so radically that we might be the next russia

Peace

Originally Posted by MadeInChina

but you seem to be ignoring the death of soldiers, radical student leaders and their great escapes and how they betrayed their followers, the riots that occured, destruction of vehicles, taiwan/hk elements that finianced this and supported this to a point where the students were partically brainwashed

(Directly from the portion of the article that I quoted already.)

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Injuries are generally held to have numbered from 7,000 to 10,000, including casualties among PLA troops.

Actually, the article did include the fact that some of those killed and injured were PLA troops. As I said, Wikipedia is pretty neutral and just lays out the facts and sources and lets the reader sort it out for themselves.

You'll have to establish a lot better case if you're going to make the statement that the protesters were brainwashed. What they were protesting in favor of was not so terribly radical. It started out peacefully too. What the PRC leaders had never even dreamed of happening was precisely what happened at Tianamen Square: A protest against the Communist regime and in favor of Democracy and Economic Reforms. Believe it or not, these are things that China really needed. The PLA was completely unprepared in terms of equipment. No rubber bullets, no riot gear, no tear gas. These were things that the PRC's government had never imagined would ever be needed, or so I assume. So how do you put down a riot or protest when all your gear is lethal and intended to kill? Well, you end up killing a bunch of people. The PRC ought to have had better foresight.

The reason that the events surrounding Tianamen Square remain controversial: The accounts by Chinese sources that are not under Communist Party control do not match with the official PRC account, especially in terms of numbers. Not by a long shot, it so happens. That means that until the PRC version and the Chinese Red Cross version, the Protesters' version and all other eyewitness accounts match a bit better ... the World will assume that the PRC is not being completely honest about it.

Herein lies the problem with a State Controlled Media: People will assume you will lie about many things simply because you can.