China condemns 'war criminal' worship

Koizumi's visit has sparked anger among many of Japan's neighbors

BEIJING, China -- China has reacted angrily to Monday's controversial visit by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumito to the Yasukuni war shrine.

A statement from the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said the decision to go-ahead with the visit raised question marks over Japanese repentance for war crimes committed in Asia prior to and during World War II.

The shrine in Tokyo commemorates Japan's 2.6 million war dead since the 19th century -- among them, several convicted war criminals.

"China's position on this question has not changed at all," the ministry said in a statement.

"We are opposed to Japanese leaders paying their respects and worshipping at the Yasukuni Shrine to class-A war criminals."

"The essence of the Yasukuni Shrine question is whether the Japanese side can sincerely repent that aggressive period of history in the past and is directly related to the feelings of the people of the Asian countries that suffered, including China," the ministry's statement said.

China had warned repeatedly that visiting the shrine would only add further tension to a relationship already strained by a row over history textbooks that both Beijing and South Korea say whitewash Japanese wartime atrocities.

Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan told Japanese counterpart Makiko Tanaka in July that Tokyo must end the dispute over Japan's war history to avoid damaging ties between the Asian powers.

"His purpose in doing this is nothing but to woo votes from Japanese rightists as well as to beautify Japan's past aggressions," the China Daily, the official English language newspaper, said in an editorial Monday.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.