By Zheng Wang
Having friends in both China and Japan, I have often been asked to explain both sides’ actions since the Diaoyu/Senkakus crisis began in September 2012. For example, my Chinese friends cannot understand why the Abe government is so “stubborn” and isn’t willingly trying to repair relations with China, while my Japanese friends wonder the same thing about the Chinese government.
A recent survey of Chinese and Japanese citizens views of each other’s countries helps shed light on these issues. The results of the survey could provide answers to the questions of my friends.
This survey, which was commissioned by the Japanese think tank Genron NPO and China Daily, asked people in 1,805 Japanese citizens and 1,540 Chinese nationals about their views of the other country.
The survey found that 92.8 percent of Chinese respondents hold unfavorable views of Japan, a startling 28 percent rise from the year before. Similarly, 90.1 percent of respondents in Japan had an unfavorable or relatively unfavorable view of China, compared with 84.3 percent last year. For both countries, these figures were higher than in the previous nine annual surveys conducted.
Read the full story at The Diplomat