Chinese ambassador answers tough questions on Sky TV
China's ambassador to the UK has repeated his denunciation of the visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to the Yasukuni war shrine. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming answered tough questions from Britain's Sky News on Tuesday. It comes days after his appearance with the Japanese ambassador on the BBC. Liu Xiaoming said it was wrong for a Japanese Prime Minister to pay homage at a shrine where Class-A war criminals are honored.
Speaking to Sky News' Jeff Randall, Ambassador Liu Xiaoming said Japanese leaders' real agenda is to invalidate the outcome of World War Two, and overturn the post-war international order and return Japan to the path of militarism.
"What would the British people feel about if German leaders pay respect to Hitler and other leaders of the Nazis? Think by comparison and you will have a better understanding of the feelings of the Chinese people," Liu said.
Ambassador Liu Xiaoming also discussed reform in China: "Comprehensively deepening reform covers major areas including economic reform, political reform, education, cultural, environmental. So I think the country will be completely changed as a result of this reform."
Liu said the West suffers from a significant lack of knowledge of China and the Western media need to "open their eyes" in China.
He said there is a great imbalance between the amount Chinese people know about the outside world and how much the outside world knows about China. Liu said there is still a Cold War mentality, especially among some people in the west.
These people, he said, view China through tinted glass and only see a stereotype, rather than reality.
