Japan should learn to get along with neighbors - FM

BEIJING - Japan should reflect on its history and think seriously about how to get along with its neighbors, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Thursday.

He made the comments after Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba's territorial claim over the Diaoyu Islands in his contributing piece to a French newspaper, Le Figaro.

Gemba alleged in the article that the islands are "clearly an integral part of Japanese territory," and "it is totally unjustified to push through its claims by using violence and ignoring global rules."

The Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands have been a sacred part of Chinese territory since ancient times, for which China has ample historical and legal evidence, Hong said.

Japan occupied the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands 117 years ago, during its expansion and aggression era.

Hong added that Japan then violated the obligations set in the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Proclamation after World War II, refusing to return the Diaoyu Islands to China, which denied the outcomes of victory in the war and challenged the post-war international order.

On the visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine by former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and and two cabinet ministers, Hong asked Japan to deliver a promise on the Yasukuni Shrine and face the international community in a responsible way.

The Yasukuni Shrine is the spiritual support of Japanese militarists' invasion and still honors Class-A war criminals that caused the suffering of victims in Asian countries, Hong said.

The Japanese government's stance on the shrine reflects whether the country can seriously face their militarism aggressive history and respect the feelings of victim countries during the war, Hong said.

China's stance on the shrine issue is clear and consistent, Hong added.