International: BEIJING, Aug. 15 — Responding to questions from journalists about Japanese politicians paying tribute and offering prayers at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on Saturday, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Jiang Bin voiced strong opposition to the move.

Jiang said the Yasukuni Shrine has essentially served as a spiritual and symbolic instrument of Japanese militarism and its wars of aggression, and contains the names of leading war criminals whose actions were responsible for the deaths and suffering of millions of people across the Asia-Pacific region.

Such insensitive actions by Japanese politicians, he said, constitute an open affront to historical justice and deeply hurt the feelings of people in countries that suffered from Japan`s wartime aggression. Their fundamental purpose, he added, is to conceal and deny the crimes of past wars while directly challenging the victory of the global anti-fascist war and the post-war international order.

Jiang further said that speaking of peace while kneeling before and paying tribute to war criminals is hypocritical and contradictory. Such behavior, he said, exposes the distorted historical perception of Japan`s right-wing political forces and what he described as a dangerous attempt to revive the legacy of militarism.

He stressed that properly acknowledging the history of aggression and sincerely reflecting on wartime crimes are fundamental political foundations for Japan`s relations with its Asian neighbors.

Noting that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Tokyo Trial, Jiang said, “We urge Japan to learn from history and stop taking such wrongful actions. If Japan persists in its reckless course and seeks to advance a ‘new-style militarism,’ thereby becoming a threat to regional peace, it will once again be forced to face justice and stand before the judgment of history.”

Source: Shuai, Touhid and Jinia, China Media Group.