A Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday that preventing the resurrection of militarism is Japan's due obligation and the unwavering will of the international community, including China.

Guo Jiakun urged the Japanese side – which earlier in the day paved the way for exports of warships, missiles and other weapons by easing decades-old arms export rules – to draw lessons from history, abide by its international obligations, and remain committed to the path of peaceful development.

He made the remarks at a regular press briefing in response to a question about recent protests by tens of thousands of Japanese people against the Japanese government's attempts to revise the country's pacifist constitution.

"We also noted that Japan's push for constitutional revision has been increasingly questioned and rejected in Japan itself as well as its Asian neighbours and the wider world," said Guo.

Japanese militarists have not only committed atrocities against people in China and other countries in Asia but also brought profound suffering to the Japanese people, he added.

He noted that Japan's constitutional revision concerns the postwar international order and where Japan is going, and that it has been closely watched by the international community and its Asian neighbours.

However, he said, the Japanese side has so far failed to thoroughly reflect on its history of aggression.

Some forces in the country even attempted to gloss over and whitewash the crimes committed during the aggression, and push for accelerated remilitarisation of Japan, which led to the rampant and dangerous spread of neo-militarism in the country and threatened regional peace and stability, Guo said, adding the international community needs to be on high alert against this.

He also said China firmly opposes and strongly condemns Japan's latest negative moves – which saw Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi sending earlier in the day a ritual offering to the Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of Japanese militarism and wartime aggression – and has lodged strong representations and protests with Tokyo. (Xinhua)



Edited by Thomas McAlinden