China voiced grave concern on Tuesday over Japan's easing of weapons export restrictions and condemned its leader's ritual offering to the war-related Yasukuni Shrine, saying that the moves called for heightened international vigilance against Japanese neo-militarism.

Earlier in the day, Japan's Cabinet formally revised the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology and their implementation guidelines, paving the way for the export of lethal weapons and removing the requirement for prior parliamentary approval.

Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, said the move, together with a series of dangerous developments in Japan's military and security fields, defies its self-proclaimed "dedication to peace" and adherence to an "exclusively defense-oriented" policy.

He noted that Japan's wartime aggression and atrocities against China and other Asian countries gave rise to a series of legally binding postwar documents, including the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, requiring Japan to be "completely disarmed" and preventing it from retaining industries that could enable rearmament.

Japan's Constitution strictly limits its military strength, right of belligerency and right to war. After World War II, Japan also put in place tight curbs on military development and arms exports under its exclusively defense-oriented principle, and in 1976, it stated in a unified view that, as a nation dedicated to peace, it should exercise caution on arms exports.

Guo said many experts and scholars express concern that Japan is reviving its "war machine" and seeking to "export wars", warning that the country's accelerating remilitarization is a reality with a clear trajectory.

Lyu Yaodong, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Japan's claim that a so-called "China threat" justifies further relaxation of its military export rules is untenable. The real objective, Lyu said, is to erode the constraints of Japan's pacifist Constitution, export lethal weapons and seek a new economic outlet.

Also on Tuesday, China firmly opposed and strongly condemned Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's ritual offering sent to the Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of Japanese militarism and wartime aggression.

Describing the shrine as an institution honoring Japanese Class-A war criminals, Guo, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, said that Beijing has lodged solemn representations with Tokyo regarding the offering.

"Japan's negative moves related to the Yasukuni Shrine are in nature an attempt to evade war responsibilities, an affront to justice, a provocation against Japan's war victims and a challenge to the outcome of WWII victory," Guo said.

He said that Japan must decide whether to let the specter of militarism spread, distort historical facts and whitewash its crimes during the war of aggression, or whether to deeply and sincerely reflect on its wartime crimes, foster a right view of history and earn the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community.

Peace-loving forces around the world should not allow neo-militarism to endanger regional peace and stability, Guo said, urging the international community to stay vigilant against Japan's "historical revisionism".

Takakage Fujita, secretary-general of the Association for Inheriting and Propagating the Murayama Statement, said that Japanese right-wing lawmakers are likely to visit the shrine during its spring festival.

Such visits are clearly wrong and citizens bear the responsibility to press Japanese politicians to reverse this misguided course, Fujita added.

Contact the writers at zhaojia@chinadaily.com.cn