BEIJING (Reuters) – China expressed strong opposition on Monday to a ritual offering made by Japan’s prime minister. Fumio Kishida at a controversial shrine in Tokyo that China and South Korea view as a symbol of Japan’s past military aggression.
Kishida made a bonsai offering at the Yasukuni Shrine on Sunday, Japanese media reported, showing live footage of a wooden plaque with the words “Prime Minister Fumio Kishida” attached to the offering, and other members of the cabinet also made offerings.
“The Yasukuni Shrine is dedicated to 14 Class A war criminals who were seriously responsible for the war of aggression,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in response to a question at a briefing. regular press.
The shrine is seen by Beijing and Seoul as a symbol of Japan’s past military aggression, as it houses Japanese war leaders convicted as war criminals by an allied court.
“The Chinese side firmly opposes Japan’s negative actions regarding the Yasukuni Shrine. The Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Japan have respectively made solemn declarations to Japan,” Wang added.
Neighboring South Korea also protested Kishida’s offer on Sunday, expressing “deep disappointment” and urging Japan’s leaders to repent of their wartime past.
(Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski; Writing by Bernard Orr; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
