Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of China's Foreign Ministry Photo: cnsphoto

China has lodged a solemn representation to Japan over Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ritual offering to the infamous Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Friday at a routine press conference.

The Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 World War II Class-A war criminals with heinous crimes are honored, is a spiritual tool and symbol of Japanese militarism in Japan's wars of aggression. China firmly opposes the negative moves of some Japanese political figures on the issue of the Yasukuni Shrine and has lodged a solemn representation, Wang noted.

He reiterated that China urged Japan to make a clean break with militarism in order to win the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community through concrete actions.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday sent a ritual offering to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, a source of diplomatic friction with China and South Korea, the Japan Times reported.

Japan's economic security minister Sanae Takaichi also offered prayers at the shrine on the same day, the first day of its two-day spring festival, the report said.

Global Times