Abe visits Yasukuni shrine despite opposition

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2nd R) visits the war-linked Yasukuni shrine in Tokyo, Japan, on Dec. 26, 2013. (Xinhua/Ma Ping)

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited the war-linked Yasukuni shrine on Thursday despite strong opposition from neighboring countries.

It is the first time in seven years that a sitting Japanese prime minister visited the notorious shrine. Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi paid a visit in August 2006.

The visit by Abe, on the day marking his first anniversary after resuming office, triggered strong opposition from neighboring countries, such as China and South Korean, who suffered a lot due to Japan's brutal aggression into the two countries during the World War II.

The shrine was a symbol of Japan's wartime militarism as 14 class-A war criminals were enshrined there, who were convicted by an Allied tribunal after the war.

Abe's provocative move would drag Japan's already-fragile relations with neighboring countries into an abyss, and damage the efforts by the international community to dispel the shadow of militarism.

China has urged Japan to properly deal with the issues surrounding the shrine and reflect on its history of aggression.