Fukuda's Yasukuni refusal hailed

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's refusal to visit his country's Yasukuni Shrine on the 63rd anniversary of the end of World War II (WWII) is testimony to his resolute commitment to further improving relations between Tokyo and Beijing, a senior Japanese diplomat said yesterday.

Fukuda chose to keep away from the controversial shrine, which honors Japan's war dead including 14 class-A war criminals, on Aug 15, the day Japan surrendered in WWII.

"Prime Minister Fukuda had said before winning the election that he wouldn't visit the shrine during the premiership as he won't do things that is not liked by others (Asian neighbors)," Kazuo Kodama, director-general for press and public relations of Japan's Foreign Ministry, said during a luncheon briefing in Beijing.