BEIJING, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- The Japanese Prime Minister's visits to Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which honors war criminals as well as Japan's war dead, continues to draw Chinese protests.
China told Japan on Sunday it will never tolerate Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the shrine, the Kyodo news service reported.
Japan's Senior Vice Foreign Minister Ichiro Aisawa asked for understanding on Koizumi's shrine visits, but Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said, "There is no such possibility," according to a source close to the Japanese delegation.
"We will never tolerate an incumbent Japanese leader going to a shrine enshrining Class-A war criminals," Li said according to Kyodo. "There is no leader in Germany or Italy who pays homage to the soul of Hitler or Mussolini."
Koizumi has visited the Shinto shrine every year since taking office in 2001. His last visit was Jan. 1.
Other Asian countries see the shrine as a symbol of Japan's militarist past. The shrine is dedicated to 2.5 million Japanese war dead since 1853, but it also enshrines 14 convicted World War II Clas-A war criminals, including wartime Prime Minister Gen. Hideki Tojo.
