BEIJING
China has denounced Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's donation of a gift to the controversial Yasukuni shrine as showing a "wrong attitude of the Japanese cabinet to history."
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Qin Gang on Monday called on Japan to correct its mistakes on historic issues and avoid inflaming emotions.
Abe sent a ritual offering to the shrine earlier in the day after Yoshitaka Shindo, the Japan's minister of internal affairs and communication, paid a visit to the controversial shrine last week, angering China.
The Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo has been a source of tension between Japan and its neighbors, especially for China and South China, as it honors 14 war criminals convicted by the Allies in the trials that followed World War II.
Qin said first degree war criminals were commemorated at the shrine, adding the issue of Yasukuni was a "devastating factor" between Japan and its neighbors and a "negative burden" carried by Japan.
Japan should face its militarist past and take lessons from history, added Qin.
Last December, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi summoned the Japanese ambassador to protest over Abe's first visit to the Yasukuni war shrine, saying the gesture honored Japan's war crimes during World War II.
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