Global Courant 2023-04-21 12:59:13
BEIJING – China has lodged protests with Japan over Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s ritual offering at the Yasukuni Shrine, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said Friday.
The Japan Times reported that Mr. Kishida sent a ritual offering to the shrine in connection with the start of a spring festival on Friday.
“China strongly opposes Japan’s negative moves,” Wang said at a daily briefing in Beijing.
Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine is seen in China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan’s former military aggression, honoring World War II Class A criminals who were top generals found responsible by international tribunals for planning and leading the war along with millions of war victims.
Japan’s prime minister does not plan to visit the Shinto shrine during the two-day festival, people familiar with the matter told the Yomiuri Shimbun.
Members of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party visited the shrine on Friday, including Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi, on the occasion of the spring festival.
South Korea’s foreign ministry also protested Mr Kishida’s ritual sacrifice on Friday.
“The government expresses its deep disappointment and regret that the responsible leaders of Japan have once again paid tribute to or paid pilgrimage to the Yasukuni Shrine, which glorifies Japan’s past war of aggression and immortalizes war criminals,” the ministry said.
