An article of the China Daily criticized on Monday two Japanese politicians, saying they tried to clear Japan's Class-A war criminals of the crimes they committed during World War II.

At a session of the Lower House's Budget Committee on February 14, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe claimed that Class-A war criminals are not criminals under Japanese law, the article said.

Aso said the definition of war crime was the opinion given by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, also known as the Tokyo Tribunal, but in jurisdiction of Japanese law, these people were not criminals.

The article said Aso and Abe disputed the validity of the tribunal, which convicted 25 wartime Japanese leaders. They were convicted of offences that included conspiring to wage a "war of aggression" and committing "crimes against peace", the article said.

On Nov. 4, 1948, the Tokyo Tribunal announced that all of the 25 defendants had been found guilty. They were all Japanese political and military figures of high rank. Seven were sentenced to death, 16 to life terms and two to lesser terms.

"However, some of the criminals had their lost honour restored by becoming cabinet members," the article noted.

"Japanese war criminals were allowed to enter parliament and find employment in the government bureaucracy," said the article.

The article cited as a "striking example" a case of convicted war criminal Nobusuke Kishi, who was able to rise to the office of prime minister of Japan in 1957.

Shigemitsu Mamoru, who was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment as a Class-A war criminal, became a deputy prime minister and foreign minister under the administration of then prime minister Ichiro Hatoyama in 1954.

Kaya Okinori, who was given a life term as a Class-A criminal, served as justice minister under the administration of prime minister Ikeda Hayato. "A criminal became a guardian of the Japanese law." the article said.

Fourteen Class-A war criminals were enshrined in 1978 at the Yasukuni Shrine, which Japanese Prime Minister Junishiro Koizumi visited every year in his office term, the article said.

"This is the way Japanese politicians have addressed their country's war atrocities. The open defence from Aso and Abe for the Class-A war criminals is the continuing refusal by the country to acknowledge it." said the article.

Source: China Daily