China condemns Japanese prime minister during his visit to Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – China is expressing anger at Japan's prime minister on his visit to Africa.

Xie Xiaoyan, China's ambassador to Ethiopia and the country's envoy to the African Union, said Wednesday that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the Yasakuni Shrine in Tokyo in December was offensive to China. The ambassador said the shrine honors war criminals who committed crimes against the Chinese people.

On Sunday Chinese activists brawled with Japanese embassy security personnel in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, after they took pictures of the embassy and protested against Abe's visit.

Abe told the media in Ethiopia on Tuesday that Japan is in Africa as part of his "strategic diplomacy." He noted that Japan has U.N. peacekeepers stationed in South Sudan, where rebels are fighting government forces.