BEIJING, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- The documents proved once again that the Japanese government at the time knew full well the disgrace of enshrining Class-A war criminals and, fearful of the consequences, deliberately kept the decision-making process secret, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Thursday.
Mao made the remarks at a regular news briefing when asked to comment on Japanese media's disclosure for the first time of internal meeting minutes of the Yasukuni Shrine, which revealed the decision-making process of the enshrinement of 14 Class-A war criminals including Hideki Tojo.
The documents show that the Japanese government made arrangements on the enshrinement of Class-A war criminals with the shrine in as early as the 1960s, but chose to keep the public in the dark until it was revealed in 1979.
These Class-A war criminals were the chief culprits behind Japanese militarists' war of aggression with the blood of innumerable war victims on their hands, Mao said, adding that the solemn verdict of the Tokyo Trials condemned them to perpetual infamy, thereby upholding international justice and laying the legal foundation for the postwar international order.
"Yet those running the Japanese government have again and again paid respects to what is in fact a shrine to war criminals. One has to ask: where has the conscience gone?" she said.
"History shall not be rewritten. Truth shall not be erased. Japan committed undeniable crimes during its militarist aggression. Those running the Japanese government must face history squarely, reflect on the war crimes, and make a genuine break with its militarist past," she said. ■
