Q: The Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid a visit to the Yasukuni Shrine this afternoon. What is your comment?

A:The Chinese Government is strongly opposed to the visit by the leaders of the Japanese Government to the Yasukuni Shrine, which has memorial tablets to class-A war criminals. This erroneous move by Prime Minister Koizumi seriously undermines the political foundation of China-Japan relations, and hurts the feelings of the people of the victim Asian countries, including China as well. His move goes against a series of statements and commitments on the historic question by the Japanese Government. The Chinese Government and people express strong dissatisfaction and indignation over Koizumi?s move. We urge the leaders of the Japanese Government to adopt a correct attitude towards history, take actions to correct the mistake and eliminate ill effect.