The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said China is seriously concerned about Japan's decision to approve a batch of primary school textbooks that promote Japan's unilateral territorial claims and has lodged solemn representations with Japan.

It is reported that Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on Tuesday authorized the textbooks to be used in elementary schools, which touted Japan's unilateral territorial claims and downplayed and distorted the historical facts of Japan's forced recruitment of laborers.

"It is Japan's old trick to play with words when authorizing textbooks in an attempt to obscure historical facts, understate and evade its historical responsibility, and deny and misrepresent its history of aggression," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a regular press briefing.

The war of aggression launched by Japanese militarism has caused profound disasters to the people of the affected countries and the forced recruitment of laborers is a serious crime committed by Japanese militarism, Mao pointed out.

These are historical facts supported with iron-clad evidence, which cannot be altered, she added.

Mao also said Diaoyu Islands had been an inherent territory of China since ancient times and that no matter what Japan writes in its textbooks, it will not change the fact that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China.

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The spokesperson urged Japan to respect the concerns of its Asian neighbors and the international community, shape a correct view of history among its younger generation, lest it further lose the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community. 

South Korea has also lodged a protest against Japan over its approval of the textbooks.