90 per cent of people in China and Japan have negative views of each other, poll reveals

Chinese respondents most upset by release of Fukushima water last year, while for Japanese it is East China Sea disputes, survey also shows

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The crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan, pictured in August. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 4:11pm, 3 Dec 2024

China and Japan are experiencing the worst slide in public sentiment towards each other in two decades, with nearly 90 per cent of respondents harbouring a negative view of their neighbour, according to a new joint poll.

The 20th Japan-China Joint Public Opinion Poll was released on Monday by Tokyo-based think tank The Genron NPO and Beijing-based China International Publishing Group, ahead of the annual Tokyo-Beijing Forum.

In the survey, 87.7 per cent of Chinese respondents said they had a negative impression of Japan, up by close to a quarter from last year’s survey. It was the second highest proportion since the survey began in 2005, The Genron NPO said in a statement on its website.

The highest was 92.8 per cent in 2013, after Tokyo nationalised the disputed Diaoyu Islands, known as Senkaku Islands in Japan, the previous year – after buying them from private owners. Anti-Japanese demonstrations then erupted in several cities across China.

Chinese demonstrators clash with paramilitary policemen during an anti-Japan protest outside the Japanese embassy in Beijing in September 2012. Photo: AP

On the other hand, 89 per cent of Japanese respondents in this year’s survey had an unfavourable impression of China, but this was down 3.2 percentage points from 2023.