AKIPRESS.COM - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has sent a ritual offering to the Yasukuni Shrine, seen by critics as a symbol of Japan's past militarism, angering both South Korea and China on Monday and putting regional ties under further strain.

Adding to unease in the region, a Chinese maritime court in Shanghai seized a ship on Saturday owned by Japanese shipping firm Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, a move that Japan warned could have an adverse impact on its businesses in China, Reuters reported.

The court said the company had failed to pay compensation stemming from a wartime contractual obligation.

Japan said the ship seizure, apparently the first time the assets of a Japanese company have been seized in a lawsuit concerning compensation for World War Two, was "extremely regrettable".

"It is inevitable that this will have an adverse impact on Japanese companies in China," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga. "We strongly urge the Chinese government to make the proper response."

The offering by Abe, who visited the shrine in December but did not to go in person this time, was sent just before U.S. President Barack Obama's three-day visit to Japan begins on Wednesday.

The United States has said it was "disappointed" with Abe's shrine visit last year, which infuriated Beijing and Seoul.

China protested on April 12 after internal affairs minister Yoshitaka Shindo visited the shrine, where 14 Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal after World War Two are honored along with Japan's war dead.

Abe made his latest offering to the shrine as a private individual so it was not the government's place to comment, Suga, the chief government spokesman, told a news conference.

"It will not have an impact on the U.S.-Japan leaders meeting," he said.