‘Face up to your wartime past,' China’s premier tells Japan

Premier Li Keqiang yesterday urged Japan to face up to its past militarism and said this year, the 70th anniversary of the end of the second world war, would test bilateral relations.

"The crux of the issue is how the war and that part of history are viewed," Li said.

Political leaders should not only respect the achievements of their predecessors but also bear responsibility for their "crimes committed in the past," the premier said, noting that the war imposed by "Japanese militarists" brought tremendous suffering also to the Japanese people.

"At such a critical moment this year, there are both a test and an opportunity for China-Japan relations," he said.

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China has been closely watching what Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, viewed by critics as a revisionist hawk, will say this summer on the war anniversary.