JAKARTA - The Chinese government has strongly protested the actions of the Japanese Prime Minister in sending ritual offerings to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which is considered a symbol of respect for wartime militarism.
"China firmly opposes and strongly condemns Japan's latest negative measures related to the Yasukuni War Shrine, and we have also expressed serious and strong protests to the Japanese side," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a press conference in Beijing, Tuesday, April 21. reported by ANTARA.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sent a gift of masakaki branches (a type of cypress tree) to the Yasukuni Shrine on Tuesday (21/4), coinciding with the start of the three-day spring festival at the shrine.
This follows the practice of Japanese prime ministers in recent years. Among those who also made similar offerings were House of Representatives Chairman Eisuke Mori and House of Councilors President Masakazu Sekiguchi.
Regarding whether he would visit the temple, Prime Minister Takaichi said it was a "personal" matter and declined to comment further.
"Yasukuni Shrine is a spiritual instrument and a symbol for Japanese militarists who are responsible for the occurrence of an aggressive war. In fact, this place is a temple for war criminals," said Guo Jiakun.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the start of the Tokyo Trials. For more than 2.5 years, judges from 11 countries have tried Japanese-related war cases and revealed Japan's terrible crimes in war.
"However, what really triggered our anger, 80 years later, the Yasukuni War Shrine, which has a bad reputation, still glorifies Japanese Class-A war criminals who have been convicted, while Japanese officials and politicians still make visits, send ritual offerings, or make donations to the war shrine," explained Guo Jiakun.
These measures, according to Guo Jiakun, are an attempt to evade war responsibility, an insult to justice, a provocation against the victims of the Japanese war, and a challenge to the results of the victory of World War II.
"Such measures have been widely condemned and firmly rejected by the international community and Japan should conduct a serious introspection. Will Japan continue to let the shadow of militarism spread?" added Guo Jiakun.
While still serving as a minister, PM Takaichi regularly visited the temple during the spring and autumn festivals, as well as on August 15, which is commemorated as the surrender of Japan that ended World War II.
The Yasukuni Shrine in central Tokyo has long been a controversial location as it is the site of homage to around 2.5 million souls who died in various wars involving Japan since 1853 such as the Boshin War, the Seinan Rebellion, the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars, World War I, the Manchurian Incident, the Korean War and the Greater East Asia War (World War II).
Of these, 14 Class A war criminals were sentenced by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, and 1,054 Class B and C war criminals from the Tokyo Tribunal were also worshiped there.
The Yasukuni Shrine itself was established in the second year of the Meiji era (1869) by order of Emperor Meiji with the name Shokonsha Shrine and was only changed to Yasukuni Jinja in 1879.
The name "Yasukuni" means to maintain peace for the whole nation and the temple was also established to commemorate and honor the services of those who are considered to have sacrificed their lives for the country.
Around five million people visit the shrine each year as a key location to remember those who died in the war.
The last visit to Yasukuni Shrine by a serving Japanese prime minister was in December 2013, by Shinzo Abe, the former Japanese PM known as Takaichi's political mentor.
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