Pop star Justin Bieber was in need of a serious fact check this week after posting two highly offensive photos and captions on both his Instagram and Twitter pages.

While on a trip to Japan with his mother, Bieber took a visit to the Japanese Yasukuni war shrine.

Mistaking the war shrine for a place of prayer, Bieber snapped two photos of himself bowing his head in prayer and devotion to the shrine as he stood next to a Yasukuni priest. Underneath one of the photos was the caption "Thank you for your blessings."

Little did the Biebs know, his photo would create political debate among the Chinese and spark public outrage.

As soon as Bieber posted the photos onto his account, he was met with ridicule and disdain from Chinese citizens and even Chinese officials over the controversy and disrespect that the shrine holds within the Chinese culture. 

"I hope this singer can learn more about the history of Japanese militarism, and the wrongful historical and militaristic views promoted by the shrine after his visit," said the Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang in response to the photo.

So what exactly does The Yasukuni shrine represent and why were the Chinese so offended?

The Yasukuni Shrine, located in central Tokyo, enshrines and pays tribute to 2.5. million war dead, including Japan's 14 convicted war criminals. The shrine also operates a war museum that defends and honors Japan's wartime aggression. Because of this, China and South Korea view the Yasukuni war shrine as a symbol for the lack of Japanese remorse for its past militarism.

To make matters worse, The New York Times reports that Justin's visit and Instagram post came just days after 150 conservative Japanese politicians paid their respects at the shrine, which brought on protests from China and South Korea.

Talk about bad timing.

In his attempt to do some damage control, Bieber deleted the two photos and posted an apology instead.

"While in Japan I asked my driver to pull over for which I saw a beautiful shrine," wrote Bieber. "I was mislead [sic] to think the Shrines were only a place of prayer. To anyone I have offended I am extremely sorry. I love you China and I love you Japan."

Although Bieber's photo seems like it most likely was an honest mistake, we're thinking that the Chinese will still have some trouble accepting the 20-year-old's apology.

Better luck next time, Biebs.