China condemns Japanese PM's war-linked shrine offering

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]

BEIJING - 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.

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"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.