China condemns Japanese massacre denial film plan

BEIJING, Jan 25 (Reuters) China today condemned plans by a Japanese group to make a documentary denying Japanese soldiers massacred civilians and prisoners of war in Nanjing in 1937.

''We have also seen the reports. I think that there is irrefutable evidence for the Nanjing massacre, and international society has long ago come to a conclusion about it,'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news conference.

''Japan's taking of a correct and responsible attitude to properly deal with historical problems helps it truly win the trust of Asian neighbours and the global community,'' she added.

The film, tentatively entitled: ''The Truth About Nanjing'', is being backed by nationalist figures including Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, the Japanese group said.

An Allied war crimes tribunal after World War Two heard estimates that about 142,000 civilians and prisoners of war had been killed when the Japanese captured the city, then known as Nanking and the capital of Nationalist China.

China puts the death toll at 300,000 men, women and children.

Post-war ties between China and Japan have been overshadowed by what Beijing says has been Tokyo's refusal to admit to the atrocities committed by imperial Japanese soldiers in the country between 1931 and 1945.

Each new Japanese school history textbook is minutely examined for perceived ''whitewashing''.

Reuters SP GC1447