SHANGHAI, Oct 18: The Japanese firm building China’s tallest office block said on Tuesday that it redrafted part of the design after authorities expressed fears that it looked too much like Japan’s national flag.

Mori Building chief executive Minoru Mori said officials had warned that a round aperture in the top stories of the 492-metre (1,623.6-foot) Shanghai World Financial Center could arouse anti-Japanese feeling.

Many people here harbour simmering resentment towards Japan over its brutal wartime occupation of China.

“From the authorities, we were given some concerns that the civil society was voicing concerns about the design,” Japan’s Mori Building chief executive Minoru Mori told a press briefing here.

The redesigned aperture is now housed in a trapezoid shape.

“We always said a change in design was not necessary, but then the designers came to us with a new design ... that was less costly, quicker to build so we then jumped on it,” Mori said.

The 105 billion yen (910 million dollars) project is due for completion in 2008, the same year that Dubai’s 800-metre Burj building will surpass Taipei 101, which stands at 508 metres, as the world’s tallest structure.

China-Japan relations took another bad turn this week with Beijing cancelling a visit by the Japanese foreign minister after Japan’s prime minister visited a shrine which honours convicted war criminals.—AFP