China-Japan relationship 'warming up'

China-Japan relationship 'warming up' - survey

By Jiao Xiaoyang and Li Xiang (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-09 07:47

When President Hu Jintao made his first official trip to Japan four months ago, he likened the visit to a "warm spring trip", in line with his hope for better ties between the two neighbors.

A majority of respondents in a recent survey conducted in the two countries believe that bilateral ties are indeed in a warm phase and have enjoyed marked improvement in the past year, thanks to concerted efforts by both sides.

The survey, conducted by China Daily and Tokyo-based non-profit group Genron-NPO, polled 1,557 Chinese urbanites in five major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu and Shenyang, and 1,037 students in five Chinese universities. It also surveyed 1,000 urbanites and 400 intellectuals in Japan in June and July. Results of the survey were released in Tokyo Monday.

(L to R) Japanese table tennis player Ai Fukuhara, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Chinese President Hu Jintao, and Chinese table tennis player Wang Nan pose for photograph after Hu's playing table tennis at Waseda University's Okuma Garden House in Tokyo May 8, 2008. [Agencies]

About 42.5 percent of Chinese students and 56 percent of Chinese urbanites believed China-Japan relations are "good" or "fairly good", up 34.3 and 31 percentage points, respectively, compared with a similar survey last year.

On the Japanese side, the number of respondents with similar answers also increased 6.5 percentage points among urbanites and 28.8 percentage points among intellectuals.

"The context of such positive change was undoubtedly the concerted efforts by the two governments, as well as the non-governmental communities, to repair and promote bilateral relations in the past year," said Hu Junkai, deputy editor-in-chief of Outlook Weekly magazine.

The survey also found that Japan's assistance during the devastating quake in Sichuan in May received positive response. About 35.8 percent of Chinese students and 45.3 percent of urbanites thought that Japan's support "helped promote mutual trust and enhance positive feelings between the two peoples". Another 49 percent of students and 32.3 percent of urbanites polled saw the aid as "a good start" toward solving lingering issues between the two countries.

Respondents of the survey also affirmed the efforts of national leaders toward better relations, with more than 80 percent of Chinese urbanites and 66.3 percent of Japanese intellectuals pointing out that summits between the two neighbors were effective.

"Chinese people's improved opinion of Japan are directly related to President Hu's 'warm spring trip' and the subsequent promotion of all-round cooperation," said Cheng Manli, deputy dean of Peking University's school of journalism and communication.

A tea performer serves a customer at an event in March marking the China-Japan Youth Friendship Exchange Year. Citizens from both countries believe bilateral ties are improving, thanks in part to leaders' official visits, a recent survey has shown. [China Daily]

"The Japanese support during the earthquake in May, including the sending of rescuers, is also something the Chinese will not forget," Cheng said.

More than 80 percent of urbanites polled on each side also saw bilateral ties as "important" or "fairly important".

The rate was as high as 92.6 percent among Chinese students and 97.5 percent among Japanese intellectuals.

Similarly, the survey found that 82 percent of Chinese urbanites were optimistic about future Sino-Japanese relations, compared with 32.3 percent among Japanese urbanites and 50.8 percent of Japanese intellectuals over the same issue.

The survey also showed respondents' impressions of each other's country were mixed.

When asked what struck them most about Japan, the top five answers from Chinese urbanites in the survey were the "Nanjing Massacre", "electric appliances", "Sakura (cherry blossoms)", "Japanese cuisine" and "Mount Fuji".

"Japanese cuisine" was ranked among the top five for the first time, replacing "Japanese invasion troops" (during World War II), which was high on last year's list.

Japanese respondents chose "Chinese cuisine", "the Beijing Olympics" and "the Great Wall" as the top three icons of China, while "economic growth" was the most popular answer among Japanese intellectuals.

Still, the poll found that more than 70 percent of Chinese students saw historical issues and territorial disputes as two top obstacles in bilateral relations.

"As the survey indicates, China-Japan relations still have some lingering problems as well as new ones, and this demands sensible and cautious handling by each side to avoid affecting the overall development of bilateral ties," said Peking University's Cheng.

Monday's release of the survey, the fourth since 2005, was also a prelude to the 4th Beijing-Tokyo forum scheduled from next Monday to Wednesday, to be held in Tokyo.

The forum, co-founded by China Daily and Genron-NPO, serves as a platform of exchange, with more than 100 political, business and academic leaders from both countries discussing key bilateral issues.