Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where the country's Class-A World War II criminals are honored, have stopped top leaders from China and Japan officially visiting each other, a Chinese professor writes in Thursday's China Daily.

Bilateral relations have since been bogged down in a deadlock of "political coldness," writes Jin Xide, professor with the Institute of Japan Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

In the shrine, the war criminals are worshipped as "heroes who died for their country", which is accepted as Japan's perspective for its aggressive past and public sentiment.

"The pre-condition for Sino-Japanese ties to improve is Koizumi stopping shrine visits," he writes. "If Koizumi insists on visiting the shrine, the sentiments of the Chinese people would certainly be stimulated and China's opinion toward Japan would deteriorate."

According to Jin, Koizumi's ignorance to the international consensus on history is largely attributed to the rise of neo-nationalism and economic recession in Japan and its worries over China's rapid economic development.

He warns that as far as Japan is concerned, it should make more effort in avoiding moves to stimulate China's public sentiment over sensitive issues.

Source: Xinhua