US disappointed for Abe's visit to Yasukuni shrine

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has infuriated China and South Korea by visiting a shrine that honours Japan's war dead, including some convicted war criminals. The US embassy in Tokyo said in a statement it was "disappointed" and that Abe's actions would "exacerbate tensions" with Japan's neighbours, according to the BBC in Thursday. China, Japan and South Korea are embroiled in a number of disputes over territory in the East China Sea. It was the first visit to Yasukuni shrine by a serving prime minister since Junichiro Koizumi went in 2006. Yasukuni commemorates some 2.5 million Japanese men, women and children who have died in wars. But the souls of hundreds of convicted WW2 criminals are also enshrined there. Fourteen so-called Class A criminals - those who were involved in planning the war - are among those honoured. They include war-time leader General Hideki Tojo, who was executed for war crimes in 1948.