China on Wednesday urged Japan to face history squarely, reflect on its past war crimes, and make a clean break with militarism, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Thursday at a press briefing in Beijing.
Mao's comments were made after Japanese media has recently disclosed the internal meeting minutes of the enshrinement of Class-A war criminals at Yasukuni war shrine.
The minutes systematically reveal the decision-making process behind the enshrinement of 14 Class-A war criminals. According to them, the Japanese government had made arrangements on the enshrinement of these war criminals as early as the 1960s, but did not disclose them publicly until 1979, the reports said.
"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. 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," said Mao.
"The solemn verdict of the Tokyo Trials, or the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, condemned them to perpetual infamy, thereby upholding international justice and laying the legal foundation for the postwar international order," 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," said the spokeswoman.
China urges Japan to face history squarely, reflect on past crimes: spokeswoman
Russia said Sunday that its forces had hit Ukrainian military facilities, while Ukraine said on the same day that it shot down or neutralized 152 Russian drones and launched an attack on a Russian oil terminal.
In a daily report, the Russian Defense Ministry said that over the past 24 hours, the Russian forces struck Ukrainian transport infrastructure, depots for military-technical supplies, and facilities for drone assembly, storage and launch.
The ministry also said that the Russian forces conducted a precision strike on a large dry-cargo ship and destroyed an enemy uncrewed vessel in the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said the city had been hit by a large-scale drone attack, leaving one person dead and five others injured.
The Ukrainian Air Force said it had shot down or neutralized 152 Russian drones between 18:00 Saturday and 08:00 Sunday. Ukrainian defense firm Fire Point also reported that Ukrainian forces had used drones to strike an oil terminal, an oil depot and a data center in St. Petersburg. Fires broke out at the oil depot and the terminal, while the data center sustained severe damage.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces had attacked electrical substations in several regions, including Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr, on Saturday night.
Zelenskyy also said he held a phone call with U.S. special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to discuss the outcomes of a meeting between Ukrainian and U.S. representatives held on Oct. 9 in Florida, as well as next steps.
He said the two sides had also discussed the possible provision of Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine. Zelenskyy added that the Russia-Ukraine conflict must end, emphasizing that the U.S. position is crucial to the process.
Russia reports strikes on Ukrainian facilities, Ukraine says it hit Russian oil terminal
Russia reports strikes on Ukrainian facilities, Ukraine says it hit Russian oil terminal
