Underlying a lot of the tension in Northeast Asia are conflicting versions of history.

So it seemed like wonderful news when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and President Hu Jintao announced during an ice-breaking summit in Beijing last fall that Chinese and Japanese historians would work together on a joint report to be issued in 2008.

The aim is to shrink the gap in perceptions of history leading up to World War II and afterward. This is a tall order. Just consider the uproar in recent weeks over Abe’s denial of the military use of “comfort women,” the euphemism for women forced into sexual servitude for Japan’s soldiers, during the 1930s and 1940s. Click here to read about South Korean anger, and here for a thoughtful analysis of the issue.

Historians from both nations met in December in Beijing. They divided into teams with 10 scholars and researchers from each side.

They met again this week in Tokyo, and here comes the news: They can’t seem to work together because of the huge differences in their views. So they are working separately.

The Japan Times story linked above said the scholars agreed each side will write its own version of bilateral history texts and exchange written comments if they disagree on controversial points.

So if they can't agree on how to work together, what can they agree on?