China came out against Japan's attempt to list historical industrial facilities as World Heritage sites on Thursday, citing wartime forced labor involving Koreans and other Asians.
"China shares South Korea's strong concerns over Japan's application," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a press briefing, pointing out that the 23 facilities include places where people from "China, the Korean Peninsula and other Asian countries were forced to work during World War II."
She said China "opposes" Japan's application to have the sites, which are related to the Meiji Era (1868-1912) industrial revolution, designated with World Heritage status and wants to urge Japan to "properly deal with relevant concerns."
China had not voiced explicit opposition to the move until a UNESCO advisory panel recommended the listing of the sites on May 4. By contrast, South Korea, which claims about 58,000 of Koreans were sent to work at seven of the facilities during the war, had previously voiced its opposition.
Asked about China's stance on the listing, she said Japan's forced recruitment of labor was a "grave crime" committed during its militarist past, and that it was worth rethinking why the industrial sites should be part of the heritage list.
Japanese government officials argue that South Korea has been politicizing the UNESCO listing, arguing that the period and historical background under which these sites fall are from the "1850s to 1910" and unrelated to the issue of forced labor during the war. Japan ruled the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.
The World Heritage Committee will meet in Germany in July to decide whether to officially register the Japanese industrial sites, including a shipyard, a machinery factory and a coal mine.