The Chinese Embassy in Japan on Monday said it had lodged serious representations with Japan after Japanese officials including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida sent ritual offerings to the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors 14 convicted Class-A Japanese war criminals from World War II.

"The Chinese side is dissatisfied with this wrongdoing and firmly opposes it, and has already made serious representations to the Japanese side," the embassy said while urging the Japanese government to sincerely reflect on its history of aggression and make a clean break with militarism.

Monday marks the anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.

Located in Chiyoda ward in central Tokyo, the shrine, open to the public 24 hours a day, symbolizes Japan's wrong attitude towards its history of aggression and sends a wrong message to the Japanese public about the country's heinous past war crimes.

China urges Japan to "correctly recognize and earnestly reflect upon its history of aggression," the embassy said in a statement, adding that Tokyo should stop euphemizing its history of aggression to other countries.

According to Kyodo News Agency, Kishida sent an offering to the shrine without visiting. Unlike his predecessor Yoshihide Suga, and Shinzo Abe, Kishida made a reference to Japan's wartime actions on Monday, saying Tokyo "will never again repeat the horrors of war." 

"I will continue to live up to this determined oath," Kishida told a secular gathering in Tokyo, also doubling down on Japan's commitment to peace.

Japan's leaders have once again sent offerings to and paid respects at the Yasukuni Shrine, which glorifies Japan's war of aggression and enshrines war criminals, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said in a statement, expressing "deep disappointment" and regret over the decision.

"The Korean government is urging Japan's responsible people to face history and show humble reflection and genuine reflection on the past through action," the statement read.

(Cover: Japanese officials visit the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, April 21, 2017. /Xinhua)