China's foreign ministry and official media have expressed dissatisfaction over Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's statement to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. [Special coverage]
"Japan should have made an explicit statement on the nature of the war of militarism and aggression and its responsibility on the wars, made sincere apology to the people of victim countries, and made a clean break with the past of militarist aggression, rather than being evasive on this major issue of principle." foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a press conference on Friday.
In a commentary also released Friday, the official Xinhua News Agency said "Abe's watered-down apology fails sincerity test" and that "no real reconciliation in East Asia will be possible so long as Tokyo is viewed as a denier of its past crimes."
In a closely watched speech to mark the 70th anniversary of WWII's end on Friday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he upheld past government apologies for Japan's wartime past. But Chinese analysts said he "had chosen his words in a way to circumvent directly admitting to the world of Japan's wartime aggression."
Abe also said that Japan must not allow its future generations to "be predestined to apologize."
Ma Sanyi, 90, a war veteran from Hunan Province, central China, said, "We should watch Abe's actions rather than just listening to his words," Xinhua reported.
"The Japanese government should admit their false stance on the Diaoyu Islands, refrain from visiting the Yasukuni Shrine and stop revising textbooks to gloss over history," Ma said.
Seventy years have passed, and "it is time for Japan to show some real sincerity," Ma said.
"The lack of a direct apology for its wartime aggression and colonial rule has caused countries like China to feel skeptical about Abe's sincerity," Liu Jiangyong, vice director of the Modern International Relations Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times.
The South Korean President Park Geun-hye has also expressed disappointment by saying that Abe's remarks "left much to be desired."
Speaking on Saturday at a ceremony in Seoul, Park called on Abe to reiterate Japan's apologies for abuses during its wartime occupations of neighboring countries.
"History can never be covered up. History remains alive through its witnesses' vivid testimony," she said.
