TOKYO, August 15 (RIA Novosti) – A group of 80 members of the Japanese parliament paid their respects Friday at the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on the occasion of the 69th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II, Japanese television channel NHK reported.
Earlier on Friday, the shrine dedicated to the 2.5 million Japanese that died while serving the country in various conflicts from 1853-1945, including 14 WWII war criminals, was visited by Japanese National Public Safety Commission chairman Keiji Furuya and Japanese Internal Affairs Minister Yoshitaka Shindo. The prime minister of the country, Shinzo Abe, chose not to visit the shrine to avoid a further cooling of relations with Seoul and Beijing, still haunted by bitter memories of Japan’s actions before and during the war. Abe, however, sent a ritual offering to Tokyo as the president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
South Korean President Park Geun-hye has already slammed the actions of the Japanese politicians saying some of them were pushing the two nations further apart. Geun-hye urged Japanese leaders to act wisely and show sincerity over historical issues.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that China was “firmly opposed” to Abe’s offering and parliament members’ visit to the shrine.
Japan is holding on Friday an annual ceremony to honor WWII victims and commemorative events on the occasion of Japan's defeat in World War II. The main ceremony attended by Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko, Prime Minister Abe and other government members took place at the Nippon Budokan hall in central Tokyo.
69 years ago, in a speech broadcast on the radio, Emperor Hirohito announced that Japan could no longer continue combat operations and accepted the Potsdam Declaration terms of unconditional surrender.
On September 2, 1945, more than two weeks after accepting the terms, Japanese officials signed the act of unconditional surrender, bringing six years of world war to a close.
