Koizumi, who leaves office in September, has visited Yasukuni shrine every year but has not fulfilled a campaign promise to go on August 15, the date of Japan's surrender in 1945.

His annual pilgrimage has enraged China and South Korea, which see the Shinto shrine as a symbol of Japan's past militarism because it honors war criminals along with war dead.

"As for the opinions of these mass media commentators and intellectuals who criticize me, I cannot help but think that in essence they add up to the contention that I should stop visiting Yasukuni shrine because China opposes such visits," Koizumi said in a weekly e-mail.

"Or in other words, it is better not to do things that China does not like," he said in unusually direct comments.

"I wonder how these mass media commentators and intellectuals perceive freedom of thought and conscience. Is it not a good thing to express feelings of respect and gratitude to the war dead, or is there something wrong with that?" he said.

The comment fuelled media speculation that Koizumi may be preparing to visit the shrine on August 15, when conservatives and war veterans frequent the site.

But the premier himself was non-committal when asked if he would visit Yasukuni on that date.

"On this matter, I would only say as I have always said that I would make an appropriate judgement," Koizumi told reporters.

When he came to power in 2001, Koizumi promised he would annually visit the shrine on the memorial day but has avoided it amid uproar from neighboring countries and domestic critics.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun daily said Koizumi's e-mail was a "repetition of his beliefs."

"However, speculation has emerged that this is an advance notice that he will visit the shrine on the anniversary of the end of the war, as this comes at a time of intense debate," it said.

Opinion polls showed a drop in support for visits to the shrine after revelations last month that late wartime emperor Hirohito stopped going because it honored war criminals.

Some 2.5 million people from 11 wars are enshrined at the sprawling site in central Tokyo including 14 top war criminals from World War II.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, the likeliest candidate to become the next premier, said Thursday that Japan and China must mend ties but defended visits to the shrine.

"There is a need for constructive debate and direct talks to facilitate accurate understanding of each other," Abe said in a speech at a forum on Sino-Japan relations.

Although Koizumi has irritated China's political establishment, China has become Japan's biggest trading partner under his administration -- replacing the United States, for which Koizumi has served as a faithful ally.

"Both countries must make sure that economic relations are not influenced by the political problems," Abe said.

But Abe later told a press conference that regarding Koizumi's pilgrimage, "We need to make efforts to resolve this misunderstanding on why he visits the shrine."

Chinese ambassador Wang Yi told the same forum that Beijing hoped for improved relations with Tokyo.

"Sino-Japan political ties have come to a standstill for reasons with which you are all familiar. This is something that we do not wish to see," he said.

"I hope that this abnormal situation shall be rectified as soon as possible."

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