Far East State University of Humanitiesand the Asia-Pacific International Relations Study Center on September 7th held round table: “Problems of the study of international relations in the Asia-Pacific region.” The meeting was held at the conference hall of the Far Eastern State University of Humanities.

The round table was attended by leading scholars in international law Khabarovsk A.L. Anisimov, A.Y. Ivanov, L.G Kuznetsova, and A.G.Pyatkov, M.I. Romanova, A.V Samokhin and V.N. Tymoshenko.

Professor of the University of Tasmania (Australia), a leading specialist of the Australian Institute of International Studies Richard Herr was on-line connected to the participants of the round table.

In the opening speech, Director of Center V. Tymoshenko identify key issues of the round table: to determine the condition of the Far East science and, in particular, Khabarovsk science studying international relations, identify the main shortcomings and outline future prospects. He noted the particular specificity of far East science associated with remoteness from the main Russian centers on ATR – Institute of Oriental Studies and the Institute of the far East, which are located in Moscow. Due to the low funding of our science, these centers, as well as major central libraries become inaccessible for the Far Eastern scholars.

Presentation continued M.I. Romanova, who told specifics about education in the Asia-Pacific region, paying particular attention to the tradition of thinking in the field of humanitarian education in China, Japan and Korea. According to her, “Eastern thought” understands the world as a single, interconnected and interdependent in the center of which is subject to their subjective interests, such as China. Therefore, the Russian Far East due to its geographical remoteness from the center of special needs in the development of arts education. The challenge of such a development must be education in socio-cultural elite favourable terms with the European tradition of education, with the humanitarian basis, as opposed to Eastern humanitarian teachings.

About the history of the Soviet-Chinese cooperation in the field of education told A.V. Samokhin. He is particularly focused on the critical issue of American historiography of Sino-Soviet relations, especially on the book by E. Davies’ Mission to Moscow. ”

Anisimov A.L. talked about new approaches in human history education in the United States. He analyzed some school and college textbooks and new educational standards in American and world history. The basic concept of this education was respect for the identity of the various population groups United States while preserving the unity of the country. New American textbooks are based on the principle of integration of the social sciences and have a pronounced humanistic approach that emphasized already in the title of the textbook. For example, in a textbook for students, the Boulder (Colorado) “Tokugava’s Japan: great peace and development of urban society. Humanistic approach to Japanese history, “focusing not only on history itself, but also on social philosophy, social structure, the development of urban culture, art and poetry.

“Scientific confrontation” between Korean, Chinese and Japanese historians was the subject of speeches by A.Y.. Ivanov. In 2001, the Japanese Government has decided to release a new textbook on history for secondary schools, which caused protests by the scientific community in Korea, according to them the new textbooks are “based on the imperial worldview, justify aggressive militarist Japan and distorting facts encroachment on the sovereignty of Korea.” Chinese scholars have paid attention to the four stories of Japan distorted facts: First, the textbook portrayed Japan as a divine country, led by the governor – the emperor; secondly, the tutorial does not reflect opposition to the war launched by Japan; Thirdly, Japan appears not as the aggressor and the victim; Fourthly, the tutorial bears shades of militarism, reflecting the prowess of the Imperial Army and does not affect the theme of aggression against neighbouring States. So in the Japanese textbook “Nanking Massacre”, during which were killed 340 thousand Chinese, including women and children were treated as inevitable in the course of the fighting.

To the conversation on the on-line system connected to the leading specialist of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute  Richard Herr , who is also a professor at the University of Tasmania. On the question of raising the teaching of positive and negative aspects of history, he said that it was necessary to talk about both. As an example, he said, the negative moments of Australian history, when the government forcibly take children from Aboriginal to train them in specialized boarding schools and in families of Australian whites. The experiment failed and R. Herr tells this to his students. In the field of international relations R. Herr detailed the Chinese expansion in Australia and the Pacific Islands, which greatly worried about the Australian public. In his view, it would be better if the Chinese were living in their homeland. Australian scientist answered back on a number of issues and wished the experts of APIR Center to study the results of the APEC summit in Vladivostok.