Japanese defense minister's visit to Yasukuni war shrine irks China, S Korea
The Japanese defense minister's visit to a controversial shrine in Tokyo for Japan's World War II victims has angered China and South Korea, which consider the shrine a symbol of Tokyo’s past militarism.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, told a regular news briefing in Beijing on Thursday that Tomomi Inada’s visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine had "a great irony" with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent visit of Pearl Harbor.
“This doesn't just reflect the stubbornness and incorrect views on history of some people in Japan; it also casts a great irony over the so-called trip for reconciliation to Pearl Harbor. It will make people vigilant as to Japan's actions and intentions,” Hua said.
Outgoing US President Barack Obama and the Japanese premier marked the 75th anniversary of an attack on a US naval base, which gave Washington the pretext to enter World War II.
The two officials, attending a wreath-laying ceremony on Tuesday, paid tribute to the victims of the attack in a memorial site at Pearl Harbor in the US state of Hawaii.
Inada joined Abe to commemorate the victims of the Japanese attack.
Meanwhile, the director general for northeast Asian affairs at South Korea’s Foreign Ministry, Chung Byung-won, summoned Kohei Maruyama, the minister counselor of the Japanese embassy in Seoul, on Thursday to protest against Japanese defense minister’s visit to the controversial shrine.
The ministry deplored the visit, saying the shrine glorifies Japan's past colonial infliction, and enshrines war criminals.
It was Inada's first Yasukuni homage since the politician became defense chief in August.
At a regular news briefing in Seoul, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Cho June-hyuck, said "our government once again points out that Japan could recover trust from its neighbors and the international society only when Japanese leaders take actions reflecting humble self-examination and sincere repentance while facing up to history correctly.”
The shrine honors some 2,500,000 people who died for the cause of Japan, including more than 1,000, among them 14 leaders, who are considered war criminals.
The annual offerings to the shrine by Japanese leaders have drawn condemnation from the countries that suffered from Japan's colonialism and aggression in the first half of the 20th century.
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