Beijing: China has ordered its tour agencies and nationals to boycott a Japanese hotel chain which came under fire for stocking books that deny the 1937 massacre by Japanese troops in the Chinese city of Nanjing during World War II.
China's National Tourism Administration slammed the hotel chain APA for the distribution of books in its hotel rooms in Japan which deny the Nanjing Massacre in which three lakh Chinese civilians were killed by Japanese troops during World War II, state-run Global Times reported on Wednesday.
The book also denies the existence of "comfort women", women from China and other countries forced to become sex slaves for Japanese soldiers, it said.
The administration requests all Chinese travel agencies and e-commerce travel services to stop cooperation with the hotel chain, and called on Chinese tourists and tour groups visiting Japan to boycott the firm. APA posted a response on its official website, which said it would not remove the books from guest rooms nor will it change its policies.
One branch hotel in Sapporo which will accommodate guests for the Asian Winter Games in February said it may consider
removing the books if the organising committee makes an official request, Kyodo News reported.
Despite the discord over history, Japan continues to be the most favourite destination for Chinese tourists. With 4.99 million, Chinese tourists topped the list of tourists to Japan which last year record number of 19.73 million tourists last year.
Besides Chinese, Japan attracted four million tourists from South Korea, 3.67 million from Taiwan and 1.52 million from Hong Kong. The controversy first broke when media reported about the books earlier this month.
APA Group CEO Toshio Motoya, who authored the bookThe Real History of Japan - Theoretical Modern History, on Saturday refused to remove the books saying that the controversy was premeditated.
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