Japan's leaders should carefully reconsider their visit to the Yasukuni Shrine and should abide by the solemn statements they have made on the issue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said on Friday.

Sun gave the warning when asked to comment on Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's claim that he would visit the site on August 15.

The shrine, a symbol of military aggression by Japan before and during World War II, still houses memorial tablets for notorious Japanese war criminals.

The issue of paying homage to the shrine is in essence an issue of how the Japanese Government and Japanese leaders view and deal with the history of aggression committed by Japanese militarists in the past, Sun added.

(Xinhua 05/12/2001)