A senior government official abruptly left Japan because of the refusal of Japanese officials to stop visiting a war memorial that also honors military leaders responsible for many of Japan's World War II atrocities. Japan's attempt to turn themselves into a World War II victim actually began even before the war ended. The U.S. continued to secretly decode Japanese embassy transmissions after Japan surrendered in August, 1945. Many of the messages concerned how to use the atomic bomb attacks on Japan to gain sympathy for Japan and escape responsibility for the war. The Chinese see the Japanese policy, which has not changed since 1945, as dishonorable and, more importantly, a sign that Japan might try to conquer China again, "for the good of everyone," (a line used during World War II.)