China blasts shrine visits by Japan's senior officials

As Japanese Emperor Naruhito made an earnest appeal for peace during a ceremony on the 81st anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender in the Second World War, the country's Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and other cabinet members prayed at the notorious Yasukuni Shrine while Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made monetary offering.

In response, Beijing has lodged protests to deplore Tokyo's negative moves and urged it to do serious soul-searching on its history of aggression.

Shinjiro Koizumi became the first sitting defence minister of Japan confirmed to have visited the controversial Shinto shrine on the anniversary since Minoru Kihara, the incumbent chief cabinet secretary who went there on August 15th, 2024.

Other officials, including Secretary-General of the ruling right-wing Liberal Democratic Party, Shunichi Suzuki was greeted by LDP's chairperson at the entrance.

Japan's Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs Hitoshi Kikawada told reporters he came to offer his "deepest condolences to the fallen soldiers who fought for the country."

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has regularly made annual shrine visits before she assumed the premiership, did not show up in the shrine on the occasion but instead made a monetary offering.

She addressed a memorial ceremony held in Tokyo on the same day, with 4,170 attendees including the royal family and bereaved relatives remembering about 3.1 million victims in the war. Takaichi said in her speech they shall not forget the peace and prosperity Japan enjoys today are built on the ultimate sacrifices of those who lost their precious lives and a history of hardships.

Japan's Emperor Naruhito also made an appeal for peace, and stressed in retrospect of the long period of post-war peace while reflecting on their past and "bearing in mind the feelings of deep remorse," he earnestly hope that the ravages of the war will never again be repeated.

In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry pushes back against the shrine visits and Takaichi's monetary offering and underscores that Yasukuni Shrine stands as a spiritual tool and symbol of Japanese militarism as it honours 14 convicted Class-A war criminals responsible for the war of aggression.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials.

A spokesperson for the ministry points out no pretext whatsoever can hide the Japanese politicians' true intention which is to change the verdict on the war criminals, cover up Japan's war atrocities, distort the historical facts, and pave the way for accelerating remilitarisation.

China urges Japan to make a clean break with militarism, and earn trust from its Asian neighbours and the rest of the world with concrete actions, the spokesman adds.

{Danni Zhou TVB News}

{China blasts shrine visits by Japan's defense minister and other officials}

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