The Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong (DAB) Monday held a protest against Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso's remarks of glorifying its 50- year colonization of Taiwan and using the word "country" when mentioning the island.

Shouting slogans like "strongly condemn Taro Aro's remarks of undermining 'one China'" and "stop beautifying Japan's colonization of Taiwan," the procession set off from the Headquarters of the Post Office in the Central and proceeded to Japan's consulate in Hong Kong.

Legislator Choy So-yuk, on behalf of the DAB, read the protesting letter to Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

"The Chinese people are in deep indignation at Aro's provoking remarks, which mislead the public and distort the history," the letter read.

"We strongly demand Japan's Foreign Minister to withdraw his remarks and make sincere apology to the Chinese people," the letter asked.

"We also appeal to the Japanese government to respect historical facts and make deep introspection to its past invasion, " the letter stated.

Last month, Taro Aso said in a speech in western Japanese city of Fukuoka that "thanks to the significant improvement in educational standards and literacy (during the colonization), Taiwan is now a country with a very high education level and keeps up with the current era."

"That was a time when I felt that, as expected, our predecessors did a good thing," said the minister.

The procession ended after Choy handed in the protesting letter to the officials of Japan's consulate in Hong Kong.

Source: Xinhua