A joint Japan-China public opinion survey released on October 10, 2023 showed deteriorating perceptions among the two countries. 92.2% of Japanese respondents had a “bad” impression of China, up 4.9 percentage points, while 62.9% of Chinese had a “bad” impression of Japan, up 0.3 points. Compared with previous surveys, more Japanese cited China’s actions contradicting international rules, while more Chinese pointed to tensions over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands dispute as well as Japanese politician rhetoric.
68.4% of Japanese viewed bilateral relations as “bad” or “not good,” up 12.2 points, while 41.2% of Chinese held this view, up 3.5 points. Despite this year being the 45th anniversary of the Japan-China Peace and Friendship Treaty, 81.6% of Japanese and 47.9% of Chinese were “not aware of the matter.”
Regarding Japan’s recent discharge of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean, 47.6% of Chinese and 33.2% of Japanese were “worried.” Only 5.8% of Chinese felt that the discharge would “hinder” relations.
Some 1,000 Japanese and 1,506 Chinese responded to the survey, which was the 19th of its kind. The survey was conducted between August and September of this year.
Source: Kyodo News, October 10, 2023
https://china.kyodonews.net/news/2023/10/ccdd04967a15-92.html