BEIJING, Aug. 16 -- China yesterday urged Tokyo to fully match its words of remorse over Japan's aggressive history with concrete actions.

    

Veterans of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression chat with explorer Wang Longxiang yesterday in Shanghai's Putuo District. Wang spent the past four months tracing historical sites of the war. Riding a motorcycle, Wang travelled through 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across the country and interviewed 500 veterans. [newsphoto]

"We've noted Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's statement," Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said.

    Taking a serious and responsible attitude towards its militaristic aggressive history serves Japan's long-term and fundamental interests, he added.

    Koizumi issued a statement yesterday on the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, apologizing to the victims of Japan's past aggression.

    However, two Japanese cabinet ministers and a group of lawmakers yesterday undermined Koizumi's apology by visiting Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, which honours 14 Class-A war criminals.

    Kong said the shrine visits on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and World War II showed the politicians involved had seriously misjudged a key issue.

    As a country which was targeted by the Japanese military, China strongly requests the Japanese Government consider its history and stop doing things to hurt the feelings of people affected by Japan's previous military aggression, Kong added.

    The spokesman said Japan's correct view of its militaristic past is a prerequisite for the country to gain trust from its Asian neighbours and the international community.

    "It is also the political foundation of improving Sino-Japanese ties," he said.

    The Koizumi statement, which the Japanese cabinet adopted earlier in the day, was the first of its kind issued by a prime minister on the anniversary since 1995, when then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama apologized for Japan's past wrongdoings for the first time as premier.

    "Our country has caused tremendous damage and pain to the peoples of many countries, especially Asian countries, through colonial rule and invasion. Humbly acknowledging such facts of history, I once again reflect most deeply and offer apologies from my heart as well as express my condolences to all the victims of the last major war both in and out of the country," Koizumi said.

    Japanese Emperor Akihito yesterday also expressed hopes that Japan will never again wage war.

    "Looking back on history, I ardently hope that the horrors of war will never be repeated," the emperor said at a memorial service.

    On the same day, Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura underscored the importance of Japan and its Asian neighbours establishing better ties.

    Relations between China and Japan have soured recently, mainly because of Tokyo's efforts to whitewash wartime history.

    Japan's education ministry's approval of a nationalist-written history textbook that plays down Japan's aggressive past, and Koizumi's annual visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, have sparked strong protests from Asian countries including China and the Republic of Korea.

    (Source: China Daily)