A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Tuesday urged the Japanese government to show sincerity in improving chilled ties after Chinese President Hu Jintao's meeting with Japanese visitors recently.

On March 31, Hu met with the Japanese visitors who represented seven Japan-China friendship organizations and told them that "he is ready to have meetings or dialogues with Japanese leaders as long as the latter make a clear-cut decision of paying no more visits to the Yasukuni Shrine where Japan's World War II war criminals are enshrined."

"Hu's words has fully demonstrated the sincerity of the Chinese government on improving the China-Japan relations and it goes without saying that the Japanese side should make corresponding efforts," said Liu Jianchao, the FM spokesman, during a routine press briefing held twice a week.

The Japanese government should have a correct understanding and approach to history and respect the feeling of the people of the countries victimized by Japan during World War II, he said.

The relationship between China and Japan has been chilled in recent years due to Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro's repeated visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including over a dozen major World War II war criminals.

Leaders of the two neighboring countries have halted exchanges of visits for over four years, ever since Koizumi began paying homage to the controversial war shrine soon after he took office in 2001.

"China hopes that the Japanese leaders can take out sincerity and courage to face the history and create conditions for improving bilateral relations."

During Hu's meeting with the heads of the seven Japanese organizations, he said that in recent years, China-Japan relationship has encountered a difficult situation, which is not caused by the Chinese side or the Japanese people.

"The sticking point in this issue is that some Japanese leaders insist on visiting the Yasukuni Shrine," Hu said, noting that this move harms the feelings of peoples of China and other victim countries, and infringes the political foundation of the China-Japan relations.

The Chinese government always values the China-Japan relations and regards it as one of the important bilateral relations in the world, and China has made unswerving efforts to improve the ties, Hu said.

As to the meeting of the leaders of the two countries, Liu said, such a meeting should resolve issues instead of just representing a form.

Source: Xinhua