U.S. scholars protest Japan′s attempts to "censor history" 미국 역사학자 1

Описание: We start with a rare of expression of discontent by a group of U.S.-based historians to the Japanese government′s attempts to whitewash history.
The scholars are protesting against the Abe administration′s push to censor Japan′s past atrocities,... especially on the issue of its wartime system of sexual slavery, which so terribly affected tens of thousands of Korean women.
Connie Lee reports. This is the joint statement scheduled to appear in the March edition of the official periodical of the American Historical Association.
A copy of the statement, which was sent to Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency... shows 19 American history scholars... expressing strong protest against Japan′s attempts to "suppress statements," or water down atrocities in history textbooks, not only in Japan, but also elsewhere in the world.
The statement is in response to Japan′s efforts earlier this month.... to pressure U.S. publisher McGraw-Hill... to change how it described its wartime sexual slavery issue in one of its history textbooks, shown here ["Tradition & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past"].
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe... claims there are errors in the history book taught in classrooms...,with his administration continuing to deny state responsibility for the country′s past atrocities.
The group of scholars, led by Professor Alexis Dudden, from the University of Connecticut, say that no government should have the right to "censor history"... and accuse the Abe administration of "questioning established history,"... and attempting to eliminate references about the country′s sexual enslavement of women during World War Two.
Historians estimate up to 200-thousand women, mostly from Korea, were forced to work in brothels for the Japanese military.
As a collective statement on a specific historical issue is seen as highly unusual... analysts are now watching how this will affect Abe′s relations with the U.S., and his upcoming visit to Washington sometime this spring.
Connie Lee, Arirang News.