Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Thursday rejected China's demand to revise a controversial junior high school history textbook, but said he will work to improve ties with Beijing.
"We cannot carry out revisions," Koizumi told reporters at his official residence. "But we will take the criticism in a serious manner and try to improve Japan-China relations by thinking of ways to understand and respect each other's positions."
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda, the top government spokesman, said at a news conference, "We cannot do anything more than closely examine the contents of the request and sincerely deal with it."