TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a condolence message to a ceremony honouring "martyrs" convicted as war criminals after World War Two, his top spokesman said on Wednesday, news that could snarl efforts to thaw chilly ties with China.
Abe sent the message in April to a Buddhist temple in western Japan housing a monument to more than 1,000 "Showa Martyrs", including wartime leaders convicted by Allied tribunals who were executed or died in prison, an official of a group sponsoring the event told Reuters.