China slams Japan after Abe’s wife visits war shrine

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (L), accompanied by his wife Akie, prays in front of the grave of his father Shintaro at his hometown Nagato in Yamguchi prefecture, in western Japan on August 14, 2015. - Jiji Press/AFP/File

Beijing (AFP) - China on Friday hit out at Japan after the wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine, saying the country should "deeply reflect" on its history of aggression.

Akie Abe on Tuesday visited the shrine in central Tokyo that honours the memory of Japan's war dead since the 19th century, including more than a dozen war criminals convicted by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East after the war.