China on Thursday cautioned against adopting a view of history that portrays Japan as a victim of World War II in connection with U.S. President Obama Barack's historic visit to Hiroshima.

A day before Obama's trip — a first for a sitting U.S. president — to the site of the world's first atomic bombing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying underscored that Japan's past militarism inflicted grave suffering on many people in the world, including those in its own country.

"We hope Japan can take a responsible attitude toward its own people and the international community, and earnestly take history as a mirror to avoid a recurrence of the tragedy of the war," Hua told a regular press briefing, when asked about the Hiroshima visit.