Forum told: Respect could help China-Japan ties
(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2005-08-23 11:30

Opinion Poll

Meanwhile, from May to August 2005 when the bilateral ties witnessed the most precipitous lows, the Chinese and Japanese co-sponsors of the forum conducted opinion polls respectively in the two countries' chosen cities and among the college students and professionals. About 3,500 copies of the survey were retrieved in both countries.

Japanese participants applaud at the opening ceremony of the Beijing-Tokyo Forum in Beijing August 23, 2005. [newsphoto]

Up to 65 per cent of Chinese respondents say economic ties of China and Japan are now on normal development road, which benefits both. And, 59 per cent of them expressed the hope the two Asian giants need to better cooperate in managing regional affairs.

Half of China's college students say they want to make friends with their Japanese peers, though 62.9 per cent of them say they do not have a positive opinion of Japan, mainly because of Japan government's failure to realize history and show remorse for WW II atrocities, among them, the Nanjing Massacre in 1938.

In Japan, 59.9 per cent of the respondents there list Japan-American relations as Japan's most important foreign ties, seldom prizing the Sino-Japanese relations. This reflects Japan's continuous strong attachment to the United States, despite the fact that China is a fast growing Asian neighbour.

"It's fairly understandable that the Chinese youth dislike Japan," said Jin Xide, a professor from the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. "The Japanese right-wing forces have brazenly tampered with history and are always trying to whitewash the invasive war. We have to strongly oppose these people."

However, he added that Chinese youth also know that it is not the Japanese people who should be blamed.

Sino-Japanese relations have deteriorated in recent years, and took a particular nosedive after the Japanese Government approved a history textbook which brushed over Japanese atrocities, sparking demonstrations in China earlier this year among China's biggest cities including Beijing and Shanghai.