China objects to Japanese defense minister's visit to shrine

China has expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi's visit on Friday afternoon to the Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of Japan's past militarism, said Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesman for China's Defense Ministry.

Wu said in a statement published Friday night that Kishi's visit has once again showed Japan's wrong attitude toward its shameful history as an invader and its wicked intention of challenging the post-war international order.

China has made solemn representations to Japan on the matter, Wu stressed.

"A nation will have no future if it could not face its history. We demand that Japan must truthfully reflect on its history of aggression, always keep its lessons in mind, take measures to correct its wrongdoings and make actual good deeds to win trust from its Asian neighbors and the international community," said the spokesman.

Wu also said that the Japanese defense authorities have recently made a lot of "negative acts" when they dealt with issues related to China. They ganged up with countries outside the region to vilify China's defense policies and military development and to conduct exercises targeting at China. They also meddled in the Taiwan question, which is purely an internal affair of China, and carried out provocative moves in the South China Sea. Those acts have seriously disrupted the China-Japan defense ties.

"We urge the Japanese side to drop the Cold-War mentality … and work with China, on the basis of mutual respect and noninterference in each other's internal affairs, to advance the defense ties along the right path," said the senior colonel.

Two days ahead of the 76th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, Kishi's move marked the first visit by a Japanese defense minister to the notorious shrine since 2016.