China is urging Japan to repent in concrete terms after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attempted to downplay his country's aggression in a long-awaited statement marking the end of World War II.

In a statement released one day ahead of Saturday's 70th anniversary of the end of the war, Abe did mention the awaited key words — "aggression", "apology", "colonial rule" and "deep remorse".

But he mentioned them quoting or summarizing, without directly stating his own ideas.

"Japan has repeatedly expressed the feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology for its actions during the war," Abe said. "Such positions articulated by the previous Cabinets will remain unshakable into the future."

"In countries that fought against Japan, countless lives were lost among young people with promising futures. In China, Southeast Asia, the Pacific islands and elsewhere that became the battlefields, numerous innocent citizens suffered and fell victim to battles," Abe said.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday that Japan should "make a clean and thorough breakup with its militarist history of aggression rather than making any covering moves in regard to this major, principal issue".

Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency said that Abe "did not offer his own apology clearly, although he expressed 'profound grief' over war dead".

Ruan Zongze, vice-president of the China Institute of International Studies, said that Abe seemed to talk insincerely when mentioning the key words, and "the new position came from domestic and international pressure."

"If Abe continues pushing his radical right-leaning agenda, he will contradict his previous pledges further frustrate the international community," Ruan said of the radical security bills discussed in Japan's upper house.

Yang Bojiang, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Japan Studies, said that given Abe's revisionist outlook, Friday's statement "could be interpreted as a sort of concession" to the pacifists.

Yang added that Abe's speech "is a step backward" compared with the Murayama Statement delivered by former Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama in 1995.

During the war, Japan forced Asian women into sexual slavery. However, Abe avoided the widely known euphemism "comfort women" by stating that "the dignity and honor of many women were severely injured during wars in the 20th century".

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn