A wooden sign (C) reading "Prime Minister Shinzo Abe" is seen on a ritual offering from the prime minister to Yasukuni Shrine at the shrine in Tokyo in this picture taken by Kyodo April 21, 2014. Abe has sent the ritual offering to the shrine, seen by critics as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, media reported on Monday. [Photo/Agencies]
China has lodged representations over the offering made Monday by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
"We urge the Japanese side to take a correct attitude on historical issues, stop making provocative acts, and win the trust of Asia and the world through concrete moves," Foreign Ministry Qin Gang told a daily press briefing on Monday.
Qin said that Japanese leaders' offerings and Japanese cabinet members' visits to the shrine exposed the "wrong attitude of the Japanese cabinet toward history," and China has expressed its solemn stance to the Japanese side.
"Japanese leaders' attitudes toward the Yasukuni shrine, which honors Class-A WWII war criminals, show whether Japan can face up to and reflect on the history of Japanese militarist aggression," he said.
"The Yasukuni Shrine issue is a destructive factor in the relationship between Japan and its neighbors, and also a negative asset for Japan itself," Qin stressed.
It is fundamental for Japan to earnestly face up to and reflect on its history of militarist aggression and to make a clean break with militarism in rebuilding and developing the China-Japan relationship, said Qin.
Abe made an offering to the war-linked shrine on Monday, another controversial move following the visit of Japanese Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Yoshitaka Shindo to the shrine on April 12.
150 Japanese lawmakers visit Yasukuni shrine
About 150 Japanese lawmakers from a nonpartisan group on Tuesday morning visited the notorious Yasukuni Shrine during the spring festival.
Japanese Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Yoshitaka Shindo also paid a visit to the war-linked shrine earlier in the day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dedicated a "masakaki" tree offering to the shrine under the title of "prime minister" on Monday.
The lawmakers included members from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party as well as the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan and the Japan Restoration Party. During the same period of last year, 168 lawmakers paid visit to the shrine, the highest number since 1989. >>>More
Japanese civil group accuses Abe's Yasukuni visit of being unconstitutional
Representatives of Tokyo citizens walk to a district court to initate legal proceedings against Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, Japan, April 21, 2014. Over 270 Tokyo citizens on Monday urged Tokyo district court to declare Shinzo Abe's visit to Yasukuni Shrine unconstitutional. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)
A Japanese civil group on Monday sued with the Tokyo District Court over Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to war-linked Yasukuni Shrine, stating Abe's move was unconstitutional.
The group, which comprises 273 people including relatives of Japanese war dead, argued that Abe's shrine visit under prime minister's title violated the country's constitution principle of separation of state and religion.
The accused included Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the Yasukuni Shrine and the Japanese government, according to the indictment, which demanded Abe not to make further visits to the controversial shrine and asked the shrine not to accept Abe's worship.
The plaintiffs also said Abe's visit to the shrine damaged their rights of living in peace and other rights protected by the constitution and they also demanded 10,000 yen (97 U.S. dollars) damages for each member of the group. >>>More
Japan PM sends offering to Yasukuni Shrine
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sent a ritual offering to Yasukuni Shrine, seen by critics as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, media reported on Monday, in a move likely to further strain ties with China and South Korea.
Abe's latest offering comes just days before U.S. President Barack Obama's three-day visit to Japan from April 23.
Japanese media said Abe will not visit the shrine in person. Fourteen Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal after World War Two are honoured there, along with Japan's war dead.
Visits by Japanese leaders to the Tokyo shrine have outraged China and the Koreas, which suffered under Japanese occupation and colonisation in the 20th century. Beijing and Seoul have been highly critical of previous offerings made by Abe.
Japanese ship seized for delayed payments
A Maritime court in Shanghai detained a Japanese ship on Saturday following a court verdict that ordered the ship's owner to pay delayed rent and losses to a Chinese firm, the court said yesterday.
The Baosteel Emotion owned by Japanese shipping firm Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), was seized at a port in east China's Zhejiang Province.
A Chinese company sued the Japanese shipping firm in 1988 in the Shanghai maritime court over alleged delays in rent for two ships, plus economic losses.
The court ruled in 2007 that MOL should compensate the Chinese firm 2.9 billion yen (US$28.4 million), including delayed rent and operating losses.
The court said it will dispose of the ship if MOL continues to refuse to fulfill its obligation.
Naval chief won't meet Japanese officials
Wu Shengli, commander of the People's Liberation Army navy, will not meet with visiting Japanese naval officials during the upcoming Western Pacific Naval Symposium, a navy spokesman said on Sunday.
Japanese warships were not invited to the joint maritime exercise that China is hosting to mark the 65th anniversary of the establishment of the PLA navy, which falls on Wednesday. The exercise coincides with the symposium, which will be on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both events will take place in the coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province.
A series of inappropriate actions by the Japanese government and leaders have severely hurt the Chinese people's feelings and Sino-Japanese relations, navy spokesman Liang Yang said, in his media debut.
Under the circumstances, it is improper to invite Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force to join the exercise, called Maritime Cooperation 2014, to celebrate the navy's anniversary, he said.
Katsutoshi Kawano, chief of staff of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force, is expected to arrive in Qingdao on Monday. The last time the two countries' top naval officials met was in 2009.
This is the first time that China has hosted the naval symposium, which was first held in 1987 as a forum at which naval officers of Asia-Pacific countries could meet biennially to discuss initiatives to address regional and global maritime issues.
