Chinese and Japanese history scholars met yesterday (Dec 27) for the first in a series of government-mandated sessions aimed at smoothing over sharp differences between the two countries on historical issues.

China believes Japan has yet to adequately atone for its wartime aggression and has expressed outrage over Japanese leaders' repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

The scholars 10 each from China and Japan opened the two-day study group in Beijing late yesterday. The sessions are to be held twice a year through 2008.

Chinese modern history researcher Bu Ping with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and former Japanese ambassador to the United Nations Shinichi Kitaoka head the teams.

During the first round of dialogue, the two sides will focus on working processes, topics and principles, but will not elaborate on specific issues.

Bu told the opening ceremony that historical issues have undermined smooth development of Sino-Japanese relations; and called for mutual understanding in the process of the joint study.

Kitaoka, now a Tokyo University professor, acknowledged it is difficult to reach consensus on every issue during the joint study, but it is possible for the study groups to find ways to narrow the gap in interpretations of history.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said ahead of the talks that the Japanese invasion of China and the Nanjing Massacre are historical facts that cannot be denied.

The international community has reached a conclusion on it long ago, Qin told a regular news briefing. He added there is a mass of ironclad evidence for the Nanjing Massacre in which at least 300,000 Chinese, most of them civilians, were killed by Japanese troops in December 1937 when they occupied Nanjing, then China's capital.

But Qin did not say whether the Chinese and Japanese experts would discuss the Nanjing Massacre.

The two sides will discuss ties over the last 2,000 years, with particular focus on their "unfortunate modern history," Qin said.

The joint study is aimed at helping both sides "correctly understand accurate historical facts and lay a solid foundation for better relations."

China-Japan ties are also marred by territorial disputes involving underwater oil and gas reserves and Japanese school textbooks that whitewash atrocities committed by the country's soldiers in Asia.

But relations have improved since Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in late September; the next month, he met President Hu Jintao in Beijing in the first summit between the countries in five years.

Hu and Abe agreed to kick off the joint history study by the end of the year and release the outcome of the study by the end of 2008.

Hu yesterday told a visiting Japanese official that the improvement of Sino-Japanese ties was good for both sides and would benefit "peace, stability, and development of Asia and the world."

He told Kono Yohei, chairman of the Japan Association for the Promotion of International Trade, that China is willing to work with Japan on "sensitive issues" that have hindered ties, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Editor: Wing