China expressed dissatisfaction and regret at Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's recent words at the Yasukuni Shrine, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue in Beijing Wednesday.  

Koizumi said on Tuesday he had no regrets about visiting the Yasukuni Shrine where war criminals are commemorated and he had no intentions to change his ways just because other countries demanded it.

Asked to comment on Koizumi's words, Zhang said that since the Yasukuni Shrine honored war criminals whose hands were blotted with the blood of people of China and other Asian countries, China firmly opposed visits to the shrine by Japanese leaders.

Zhang said taking a proper attitude toward history concerned the political basis of Sino-Japanese relations and was an important condition for Japan to be trusted by Asia and the international community.

The Chinese government hoped the Japanese leaders would keep the promise to reflect on history and avoid activities that caused offense in countries that were victims of Japan's wartime aggression.

The Yasukuni Shrine honors 14 Class-A war criminals from World War II along with the 2.47 million Japanese war dead since the mid-19th century.

(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2004)