Amid the Sino-Japanese row over history, China will make two statues of Chinese-American author Iris Chang for her exposure of "atrocities committed by Japanese aggressors" in China and the spirit to "dig up the historical truth".

A group of eminent Chinese artists and scholars discussed the clay model of the work in Beijing [Images] yesterday.

"We have received the approval from Chang's family members to make the statues in memory of her tenacity in exposing the atrocities committed by Japanese aggressors and her spirit to dig up the historical truth," vice-chairman of the China Foundation for Human Rights Development, Yang Zhengquan said.

The China-Japan row

Born to Chinese immigrants in Princeton, New Jersey, Chang used to be a reporter for the Associated Press and the Chicago Tribune.

After two years' research and interviews on the Chinese mainland, she published her book The Rape of Nanking -- The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II, in 1997, which became an international bestseller.

The book, which described the rape, torture and killing of hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians by Japanese soldiers in the former Chinese capital during the late 1930s,has been published more than 10 times, with nearly one million copies having been printed.

Her other books include Thread of the Silkworm, about Tsien Hsue-shen,?the US-trained founder of China's ballistic missile program, and The Chinese in America, which examines the history of Chinese immigrants and their descendants.

Chang also frequently made speeches criticising Japan [Images] government's refusal to repent its aggressive history and its efforts to cover up the outrageous crimes committed by past Japanese militarists.

She committed suicide in San Francisco at the age of 36 on November 9 last year.

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