China News Service cited the Singaporean Lianhe Zaobao as saying Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wang Yi published an article Nov. 14 on the Japanese Nikkei titled "Why (China) Protests Yasukuni Shrine Visits?"

The article points out that the Yasukuni Shrine visits have placed a "fast knot" in the China-Japan relations and "Only Japan itself can undo this fast knot and give hope to China-Japan friendship."

The ambassador writes in the article that the visits by PM Junichiro Koizumi ruined the efforts China and Japan have made since the establishment of the diplomatic relationship in 1972. On the question of Japanese leaders' visits to the Yasukuni Shrine which enshrines Class-A war criminals, China's stand in opposing them is clear and consistent. China protests them because the Class-A war criminals are the chief criminals as well as the symbols of war time (militarism).

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said to outsiders after the visit that it was a "personal visit". Wang rebuts this in the article as well. He writes: "as a leader of a country such a visit represents the position of the country. Describing it as a personal visit won't be accepted by the international community. Moreover, this year marks the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII. As an invading country Japan all the more needs to consider the feelings of the victimized peoples."

Meanwhile, he refutes the sophistic views of Japanese leaders that the "visit is an internal affair" and the "visit is traditional culture", believing them to be unfounded.

Wang says: "the question of the Yasukuni Shrine visits is not a matter of intervention in internal affairs. Questions involving Class-A war criminals is an international issue beyond the Japanese culture and internal affairs. It must be noted that the Yasukuni Shrine visits are a fast knot impeding the China-Japan friendship, which must be undone to clear away the political obstacles between China and Japan and disentangle various problems such as exchange between state leaders.

Wang says at the end of the article that Japan must handle the shrine visit question properly, putting the interests of its own and those of East Asia first.

By People's Daily Online