14/01/01 19:45:53.10 0
Japanese prime minister visits Yasukuni war shrine
TOKYO (AP) -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid his respects
Thursday at a shrine honoring Japan's war dead in a move that
drew a quick rebuke from China warning that the visit celebrated
Japan's military attacks on its neighboring countries.
The visit to the shrine, which honors 2.5 million war dead
including convicted class A war criminals, appears to be a departure
from Abe's "pragmatic" approach to foreign policy, in which
he tried to avoid alienating neighboring countries.
It was the first visit by a sitting prime minister since
Junichiro Koizumi went to mark the end of World War II in 2006.
Visits to Yasukuni by Japanese politicians have long been a point of
friction with China and South Korea, because of Japan's brutal aggression during World War II.
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