China, S. Korea protest Japanese premier offerings to controversial shrine

By Anadolu staff

ISTANBUL (AA) — China and South Korea on Tuesday condemned a ritual offering sent by Japan’s prime minister to a war-linked shrine in Tokyo, local media said.

Fumio Kishida sent a "masakaki" offering to the Yasukuni Shrine as he marked the 78th anniversary of the end of World War II, once again avoiding an in-person visit to the landmark, the Kyodo News Agency reported.

The shrine has been a source of tension between Japan and its neighbors, particularly South Korea and China, as it is viewed as a sign of Japan's failure to atone for its past "imperialist aggression.”

After Fumio Kushida’s offering at Yasukuni shrine, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters that Beijing “lodged solemn demarches to the Japanese side.”

Unlike Kushida, Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi visited the shrine, which Wang said “once again shows the Japanese government’s erroneous attitude toward historical issues.”

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry also released a statement on the matter, calling on “responsible figures in Japan to face history squarely and to demonstrate humble reflection and genuine remorse for the past.”

It said, Yasukuni “glorifies Japan's past wars of aggression and enshrines war criminals.”