China condemns Japanese minister’s visit to controversial Yasukuni Shrine

Name: 75 years ago, Japan signed its surrender in Tokyo Bay, ending WWII in Asia
Uploaded: 2021-08-14T09:44:06.000Z
Duration: 4 min
Description: 75 years ago, Japan signed its surrender in Tokyo Bay, ending WWII in Asia

Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi visits site where convicted war criminals are interred, as does Economic Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura

Beijing slams ‘symbol of Japanese militarism and its wartime aggressions’, while South Korea expresses grave concern

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The Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo has been at the centre of rows between Japan and its neighbours. Photo: AFP

Catherine Wong

Published: 5:44pm, 14 Aug 2021Updated: 9:13pm, 14 Aug 2021

China protested against the Japanese defence minister’s visit to a controversial shrine in Tokyo honouring the country’s war dead, days before the 76th anniversary of Japan’s World War II defeat.

On Friday, two senior ministers in Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s cabinet, Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi and Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, made separate visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, where some of Japan’s convicted war criminals are interred.

The shrine remains a highly sensitive and potent symbol of Japan’s wartime legacy and a flashpoint for tensions in East Asia, in particular with China. South Korea also criticised the visit.

Chinese defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian said in a statement that China was “strongly dissatisfied” with the visit by Kishi, the younger brother of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, who is known for his hawkish views and denials of Japan’s wartime atrocities.

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75 years ago, Japan signed its surrender in Tokyo Bay, ending WWII in Asia

Kishi is the first serving defence minister to visit the shrine since 2016. He reportedly said after offering prayers that he expressed reverence and paid tribute to the war dead but also “renewed my war-renouncing pledge and resolve to protect the lives and peaceful livelihood of the people”.

“It is widely known that the Yasukuni Shrine is a spiritual tool and symbol of Japanese militarism and its wartime aggressions, and it honours 14 convicted class-A Japanese war criminals from World War II who were responsible for launching Japan’s wars of invasion,” Wu said.