Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wang Yi said Thursday that the issue featuring the visit to the Yasukuni Shrine is the major stumbling block to the development of Sino-Japanese relationship.

Wang said at a press conference that China always abides by the policy of good-neighborliness and friendship with Japan.

Chinese leaders have made it clear that they hoped, based on the three joint political documents, the two countries will coexist peacefully, be friends from generation to generation and conduct mutually-beneficial cooperation for common development, Wang added.

But it is regrettable that the view on history issues featuring the visit to the Yasukuni Shrine is still preventing healthy development of bilateral relations.

Wang noted that the core of the Yasukuni Shrine issue is that the facility enshrines Japan's Class-A war criminals who masterminded and commanded Japan's aggressive war.

The shrine, however, still sticks to the point that the war launched by Japan in Asia was for self-defense and that the Pacific War was for countering offensives from foreign countries including the United States. The shrine also challenges the legitimacy of the ruling made by the International Military Tribunal of the Far East by claiming the war criminals were innocent, he said.

How to deal with the issues concerning the Class-A war criminals is not only Japan's internal affair, but also is related to the political foundation for the resumption of Sino-Japanese relations, to the purpose of Japan's post-war reconstruction and the international order established after World War II, Wang said.

At the same time, the issue not only concerns China and Japan, but also involves other Asian countries plagued by Japan's aggressive war as well as the international community at large, Wang said.

The ambassador pointed out the Chinese people are tolerant. The Chinese government released Japanese war prisoners jailed in China and waived the claim for damages.

China has no objection to visits to the shrine by ordinary Japanese people to hold memorial ceremonies for their deceased relatives. Yet, if Japanese leaders pay homage to the shrine honoring the war criminals, they will greatly hurt the feeling of the Chinese people and damage the political foundation of the two countries' diplomatic relations, the ambassador said. Their practice is obviously unacceptable to the Chinese side, he added.

He said China has opposed the visits by Japanese leaders since it came to light in 1985 that the shrine honors Class-A war criminals.

In 1986, the then Japanese chief cabinet secretary, on behalf of the Japanese government, made an official statement, saying that Japan's prime minister would give up the practice due to comprehensive considerations, Wang said, adding that on history issues, Japan should keep moving forward rather than retreating from its stance made nearly 20 years ago.

Source: Xinhua