BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) — The international community must keep vigilant as Japan’s right-wing politicians have raised risks for the peaceful development of Asia.

On Tuesday, a Japanese cabinet minister and nearly 150 lawmakers visited the Yasukuni Shrine, and Monday saw Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe make a ritual offering to the war-linked shrine, just before U.S President Barack Obama begins a three-day visit to Japan.

The Yasukuni Shrine has become a place for right-wing politicians to stage a farce.

Any visit by politicians to the shrine, which enshrines 2.5 million souls including those of 14 Class-A convicted war criminals in WWII, angers Japan’s neighbors that suffered atrocities committed by imperial Japan.

Japan’s other moves, including attempts to whitewash its wartime atrocities and change post-war international order, damage its reputation and hamper its prospects, as was pointed out in a commentary carried by Wednesday’s People’s Daily

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