China called Monday for Japan to choose "peaceful development" after the Japanese ruling coalition of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a parliamentary election, a victory widely seen as giving Abe a chance to rewrite the country's pacifist constitution. 
  
Abe's conservative Liberal Democratic Party kept its majority in Japan's lower house over the weekend, leading some analysts to express concerns that the win could prompt Japan to try to whitewash its aggression during World War II.
  
Asked about the political development in Japan and concerns about a possible change of the country's pacifist constitution, China's foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters that Beijing "noted" the election results in Japan. 
  
"Japan's policies and movements in the fields of military and security have a bearing on international developments as well as the regional security environment," Qin told during a regular press briefing. 
   
"We hope the Japanese side really learns lessons from history, follows the trend of peace and cooperation and respects the legitimate and reasonable security concerns of regional countries,"
Qin said, urging Japan to "follow the path of peaceful development and play a constructive role in regional peace and stability." 
   
So far this year, Japan has approved resolutions that reinterpret a key article of its pacifist constitution to exercise the right of "collective self-defense," which means that Japan can fight abroad for the defense of its allies if they are under attack.
   
South Korea and China, which were impacted by Japan's aggression during the war, have kept a wary eye on Japan's move to expand its military role amid concerns that the power could be misused to repeat its former militarism. (Yonhap)