Chinese ambassador urges Japan to learn from Germany

Chinese Ambassador to Germany Shi Mingde on Tuesday urged Japan to learn from Germany on attitude toward its wartime history in order to win trust of other countries.

In an article published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper, the ambassador called Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine last month "a flagrant provocation against the international order after World War II."

"My German friends always ask me why China and Japan could not reach reconciliation as Germany and France did," wrote Ambassador Shi. "The future could be created only by those who correctly face up to their history."

The Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 Class-A war criminals of WWII, is a spiritual symbol of Japanese militarism, aggression and colonialism, Shi pointed out. Abe's visit to the shrine showed that nearly 70 years after the war, Japan is still unable to look squarely at and repent its wartime aggression.

The Japanese militarism inflicted huge losses on China as over 35 million Chinese were killed during Japan's aggression. The Japanese army massacred more than 300,000 Chinese in the notorious 1937 Nanjing massacre.

"Abe refuses to take historical responsibility for his country's wartime past, and even dares to honor war criminals ... His move is taking Japan toward a dangerous road," warned the ambassador. It seriously harmed the regional stability and world peace, and damaged the political foundation of China-Japan relations.

"That is the root reason why Japan can not be trusted by its neighbors." Shi added.

"The attitude of the Japanese government contrasts sharply with that of Germany. We appreciate Germany's courage to face up to its history and treat historical issues correctly," he wrote, adding if Japan could behave like Germany, it would win trust from countries in Asia and around the world.