Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The first substantial talks scheduled for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping may be a wasted step in the process of improving relations between the two countries after three senior Japanese ministers visited Yasukuni war shrine.

Beijing reacted immediately commenting that it sees Yasukuni as a symbol of Tokyo’s violent past. The Yusukuni shrine is dedicated to World War II Japanese soldiers in China.

Eriko Yamatani, one of the visitors to the pilgrimage and the National Public Safety chief, said “I offered my sincere appreciation for the people who fought and sacrificed their precious lives for the sake of the country.”

Yamatini is well known for her nationalistic views, but still she is saying that she is trying to maintain peaceful relations with neighboring countries.

Along with herself, two other representatives from Japan who visited the shrine were Hariko Arimura, state minister in charge of female empowerment and SanaeTakaichi, the internal affairs minister.

Abe asked his officials not to go to the pilgrimage, however more than 100 lawmakers are said to have visited. Abe said that it was impossible to stop his subordinates to going in their private capacity.

The meeting in Jakarta is supposed to be a big step between the two countries that have had many disputes over the years, one of them is the current territory issue and of course the other being the country’s history. After 30 minutes of discussion with Xi, Abe said that it was a very meaningful meeting and it will help improve future bilateral relations.

On the other hand, Chinese foreign ministry spokesmen, Hong Lei said that Beijing was strongly opposed to the visit and reminded people of the historical crimes and deaths related to Japan. “I’d like to reiterate that only by facing squarely and having deep remorse over the past history of aggression and making a clean break with militarism, can China-Japan relations realize sound and steady relations and development,” he added.

Beijing’s official attitude on this matter has been known to be quite harsh and negative with experts saying that the building of relations shouldn’t be a big problem for the two countries. The economic relation between them is very good, regardless of their political misunderstandings. The Japanese officials visit to the shrine is thought to be just a way of maintaining their image in Japan and show to their supporters that they keep to their word.

Chinese president Xi said that he is hoping that Japan will try to keep a good and peaceful relationship in their region.