Chinese ambassador urges Japan to face up to history

Japan should face up to and learn from history, otherwise it would be very dangerous, Chinese Ambassador to Germany Shi Mingde said in the Munich press club on Wednesday.

"We are very concerned about the direction Japan is heading. The new Japanese prime minister is bringing Japan towards a perilous direction." Shi said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid a visit to the Yasukuni Shrine on Dec. 26 where Class-A war criminals of World War II are honored. This act brazenly affronted people of all countries that once suffered from Japanese militarist aggression and colonial rule.

Shi took the act as a provocation to the peace-loving people of the entire world. He hopes that Japan will go on a path of peace in future and reconcile with other countries on the premise of facing up to history.

Shi Mingde, being the ambassador to Germany since August 2012, spent 90 minutes to answer with humor and wit in German about 20 questions from German journalists, involving the one-child policy, the protection of intellectual property and the corruption issues.