mail exchange, so it's "not clear if China is ready to calm the waters." Anti-Japanese protests erupted after Tokyo approved a new history textbook that critics say downplays wartime Japanese atrocities, including mass sex slavery and germ warfare. But Machimura denied the accusations Thursday, saying he didn't believe that the texts would cause "any problems with China, Korea or any other countries in Asia." "Not a single textbook glorifies or justifies Japanese actions during the war whether it be the colonization of Korea or the invasion of China or acts of aggression in other parts of Asia," he said. "Though there may be discussions regarding these textbooks, I believe that no one has actually read the alleged textbooks in reality." He added: "We are confident about our past record in the past six decades in promoting peace." The downward spiral in relations with China has also has been fueled by disputes over Tokyo's effort to obtain a permanent U.N. Security Council seat and gas-drilling in disputed waters, as well as wider rivalry for regional dominance. Some have suggested Beijing allowed the protests to undermine Japan's U.N. campaign. China also is angry at Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead including executed war criminals. The Asian-African Summit begins Friday, with nearly 50 delegations commemorating the 1955 birth of the Nonaligned Movement _ ample time for Hu and Koizumi to meet along the sidelines. Hatsuhisa Takashima, a Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman, who was with Tokyo's delegation in Jakarta, said Wednesday that his government was "hopeful" for a meeting. "After all, China and Japan are very big trade partners and our economies are interdependent." A fence-mending mission to Beijing by Machimura last weekend failed after China allowed more protests and rejected Tokyo's demand for an apology. China says its security forces have done their best to prevent violence during three weekends of anti-Japanese demonstrations in cities throughout the country.
