Regardless the strong opposition from China and other Asian countries, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi again visited Yasukuni Shrine, and seriously undermined Sino-Japanese relations, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan Thursday in Beijing.

The Chinese government and people expressed strong indignation over Koizumi's wrongdoing which wantonly hurt the feeling and dignity of the countries and their peoples falling victim during the WWII, he said.

Kong said at the regular press conference that the Japanese government and its leaders have expressed their solemn promise and commitments towards the history issue on many occasions.

However, some Japanese leaders have time and again eaten their own words in recent years and stirred up troubles on the history issue, which have severely hurt the Chinese people's feelings and imposed obstacles upon the normal development of Sino-Japanese relationship.

As a government leader, Koizumi stubbornly keeps visiting Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A war criminals. The move can not help attain the aim of what he claimed "reflection of history", but will fuel the tendency of distorting and negating the invasion history by the Japanese right-wing extremists, Kong said.

The Chinese government is strongly opposed to Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni Shrine at any time and in any form, he said.

In the 21st century, Japan must show an earnest, sincere and responsible attitude, implement the principles of "learning from the history and facing up to the future" by taking convincing and concrete actions, co-exist peacefully with neighbors and take a peaceful development path on this basis if it really wants to gain trust from Asian neighbors and the international community and play a positive role in international affairs, Kong said.

China and Japan are neighbors and they should co-exist in peace and friendship and seek for a common development, which constitutes an important revelation shown by the positive and negative aspects of the history of bilateral relations and is where the common aspiration and the greatest common interests of the two peoples rest, he said.

Source: Xinhua