Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited the Yasukuni shrine yesterday, infuriating neighboring countries which see the Tokyo shrine as a symbol of Japan's past military aggression.
Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wang Yi (王毅) called the visit to the shrine a "serious provocation," while Seoul summoned the Japanese ambassador to express its "deep regret" and Taiwan urged Japan to "face history."
But Koizumi again rejected the objections.
"Foreign governments should not interfere in matters of personal belief," he said.
However, he told reporters he hoped that neighboring countries would come to understand Japan's stance, saying: "We will continue to explain our position."
Koizumi's latest trip to Yasukuni, which honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead, including some Class-A war criminals, comes despite a ruling last month by a Japanese high court that the visits violated the constitution.
Following large-scale anti-Japanese protests in China earlier this year, Japan's embassy in Beijing warned its nationals of a possible new backlash there after the visit to Yasukuni.
It was Koizumi's fifth pilgrimage to the Shinto shrine in central Tokyo since he took office in April 2001.
On this occasion, however, the prime minister appeared at pains to portray the visit as a personal pilgrimage.
Unlike past visits he did not sign a shrine register as "prime minister."
He also prayed in front of the shrine as a general worshipper would instead of entering the main hall, and opted for a gray suit and blue tie rather than the traditional Japanese dress or formal morning suit he has previously worn.
In Taiwan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) urged Japan to "face history," adding: "We hope the prime minister will not forget about the past lessons and see the future from a forward-looking perspective."
As a big power in East Asia and the second-largest economy in the world, Japan has the ability as well as responsibility to play a pivotal role in regional as well as world peace and stability, Lu said.
He said that Taiwan and Japan have friendly relations and both sides should work toward strengthening bilateral ties.
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