Rewriting History

Yesterday's Straits Times in Singapore, featured an article on how China itself has been whitewashing its history. Most of us are now familiar with how the Chinese erupted in rage when Japan approved a school text that was not entirely honest about the Japanese wartime atrocities.

Japan has retaliated with claims that Chinese history textbooks are also biased and contain glaring omissions. The textbooks do not tell the complete truth about the Great Leap Forward movement initiated by Mao which resulted in 30 million dying of starvation during the 1960s. There is also nothing about its military aggression against India and Vietnam. And the Tiananmen killings are simply glossed over.

So both sides need to acknowledge their history for what it really was - you need that if you want to move forward without being saddled with heavy baggage.