BEIJING, Apr 22 (AP) -- China on Friday objected to a visit by Japanese lawmakers to a Tokyo shrine that honors executed World War II criminals along with other war dead.

"We express strong dissatisfaction over the negative actions of some Japanese politicians," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

It called on Japan to take actions that are "more conducive to improving and developing Sino-Japanese relations," citing the "current severe situation."

Anti-Japan protests have swept China's big cities in recent weeks, following Tokyo's approval of new textbooks that critics say whitewash Japan's wartime atrocities.

China also objects to Japan's efforts to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed "deep remorse" over his country's wartime aggression at an Asia-Africa summit in Jakarta also attended by Chinese President Hu Jintao.

But even as he did so, 80 Japanese lawmakers visited the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo that honors 2.5 million Japanese war dead.