Japan’s foreign minister has urged China not to link the controversy over a contested island chain to other historical grievances, as a visit by two of his cabinet colleagues to the Yasakuni war shrine threatened to inflame tensions further between the Asian rivals.

The Japanese-controlled islands – known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China – are also claimed by Beijing and Taiwan. Japan’s purchase in September of three of the islands from their long-time private owners sparked violent demonstrations in cities across China and has led to widespread boycotts of Japanese goods.

“I think it is necessary to think about the Senkaku islands by delinking them from the past,” Koichiro Gemba told the Financial Times on Thursday during a visit to London.