NPC Foreign Committee Condemns Koizumi's Visit to Yasukuni Shrine

China hopes that Japanese leaders take concrete steps to repair the damage done by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's recent visit to the Yasukuni Shrine -- a symbol of Japan's military aggression against China in World War II.

An official with the Foreign Affairs Committee of China's National People's Congress made the remark in a speech Tuesday regarding Koizumi's visit to the Shrine.

The Japanese leaders should faithfully abide by the solemn statements and commitments they have made on historical issues, fully respect the feelings of the Chinese people and other victims in Asia, and gain trust from the international community by taking concrete actions to repair the damage, the official said.

On August 13, Koizumi, disregarding the solemn stance and strong representations from China, the Republic of Korea and other neighboring Asian nations, neglecting the outcry at home, insisted on paying homage to the Yasukuni Shrine.

"We express our strong indignation and severe condemnation toward his behavior," the official said in the speech.

By rescheduling a visit initially planned for August 15, the date marking Japan's defeat and unconditional surrender in WWII, to an earlier date, Koizumi intended to mollify people from home and abroad, the official said. But compared with the issue of Japan's attitude towards its history of military aggression, his decision to change the date of his visit is insignificant and does not alter the fact that he honors military war criminals.

This wrongful behavior has not only deeply wounded the feelings of the Asian people who suffered greatly from Japanese militarism, including the Japanese people, but also is detrimental to the regional peace, stability and development, the official stressed.

It is well known that the Yasukuni Shrine was once the an instrument used by the Japanese militarism to deceive the Japanese people and to invade other countries, and it still houses the memorial tablets of 14 class-A war criminals, the speech noted.

At the beginning of the new century, Japan's prominent leaders paid homage to the place, which resonates with the atrocities of the past. "People cannot help but ask, where will Japan be led to? “

(Xinhua News Agency 08/14/2001)