Two books on Sino-Japanese history and modern political relations have been pulled from shelves in China for undisclosed reasons, after selling about 50,000 copies apiece.
"Ambiguity's Neighborhood" and "Iron and Plough," both by author Yu Jie, disappeared from major bookstores in late December after four months of normal circulation, Yu said this week.
In the runup to the annual National People's Congress plenary session that began March 5, independent booksellers were also told to stop selling it, Yu's Beijing distributor said Wednesday.
Yu, 32, argues in "Ambiguity's Neighborhood" that Chinese should learn more about modern Japan before saying they "hate" the people -- common parlance for today's younger generation influenced by anti-Japan media reports and school texts that discuss Japan's 1931-1945 conquest of China.