VIENNA - No European politicians dare to defy world opinion by prostrating themselves before Adolf Hitler and other war criminals, in sharp contrast to Japanese leaders' worship to a controversial war-linked shrine, the Chinese ambassador to Austria said.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's year-end visit to the Yasukuni shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including 14 class-A war criminals in World War II, seriously damaged the political basis of relations between Tokyo and its neighbors, Zhao Bin said in an article carried on Tuesday by the Austrian daily Wiener Zeitung.

He added that although nearly seven decades have passed since the end of WWII, Japan has constantly tore on the wounds of the victim countries.

"It is hard to imagine that politicians of Europe dared to worship Adolf Hitler and other war criminals today," Zhao said, noting that Germany's determination to bring all Nazi criminals to justice has not only enabled its reconciliation with the victim countries, but also opened the door for peace in Europe.

On the contrary, right-wing forces in Japan are trying to overturn the verdict of the Tokyo trial of the war criminals and challenge the world order after WWII, said the Chinese envoy.

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