China dismisses Abe's intention to explain shrine visit

BEIJING - China here on Tuesday dismissed Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's intention to explain his visit to the Yasukuni Shrine.

Commenting on Abe's willingness to seek dialogue with China and the Republic of Korea (ROK), Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily press briefing, "The Japanese leader showed his stance of trying to reverse the history of aggression and the Class-A war criminals through his actions."

She said, "Actions speak louder than words."

Hua urged Abe to "retreat from the wrong path and change course".

The Japanese leader will lead his country along a dangerous and wrong path if he does not have a correct understanding of Japan's history of militaristic aggression, and does not stick to peaceful development with a responsible attitude, policy and moves, Hua said.

The Japanese leader's wrongdoing will expose disaster rather than happiness to people living in the region, Hua added.

Last month, Abe visited the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors Japan's war dead including 14 convicted Class-A war criminals from WWII.

Abe said at a press conference on Monday that he would like to explain the intention of the visit directly to China and the ROK, and that the door to dialogue is open.