China's top legislative body Friday condemned Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the war-linked Yasukuni shrine.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) issued a statement voicing its strong indignation toward and condemnation of Abe's visit to the Yasukuni shrine.
"We firmly oppose the blatant homage paid by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the Yasukuni shrine, and strongly condemn such serious provocation to world peace and human conscience," Xinhua reported citing the Foreign Affairs Committee of China's national legislature National People's Congress (NPC) in a statement .
To date, the 14 men who were held guilty for crimes against peace or, 14 Class-A war criminals or, who were held guilty for crimes against peace, committed heinous crimes against the Chinese people and other Asian people, remain honoured in the notorious shrine, the statement said.
It also said that the visit to the shrine by Japanese politicians, in total disregard to the strong opposition of the people of China and other countries, was an attempt to deny and whitewash the war crimes committed by militarist Japan and challenges the post-war international order.
"History will never be forgotten, and the Chinese people can never tolerate any words or actions that attempt to erase war crimes," it said.
More From This Section
Tens of millions of Chinese families lost their loved ones and suffered unimaginable afflictions in Japan's war of aggression against China between 1931 and 1945.
Of these 14, the seven who were sentenced to death by hanging were Hideki Tojo, Heitaro Kimura, Seishiro Itagaki, Kenji Doihara, Iwane Matsui, Akira Mutou, and Koki Hirota.
The four, sentenced to life imprisonment and eventually died of natural causes, were Yoshijiro Umezu, Kuniaki Koiso, Kiichiro Hiranuma, and Toshio Shiratori.
Shigenori Tougo was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Osami Nagano and Yosuke Matsuoka died of natural causes before facing trial.