China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called on Japanese schools to provide a true, objective account on Japanese imperial history after Japan's Education Ministry approved a new history textbook, that minimizes the death toll of the Nanjing Massacre. 

"Some Japanese departments intend to whitewash, or even deny and rewrite history. That is wrong and irresponsible behavior. It is wrong for Japan to educate its future generations this way, and makes it harder for them to learn how to forge strong relationships with neighboring countries. We hope the Japanese government can do the responsible thing for its people, its history, and its neighboring countries, and educate its citizens, instead of promoting wrong historical views,” Hua Chunying, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson said.