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April 16, 2005
Japan's 'Altered Image' of an Economically Emerging China
Nakanishi Hiroshi, in an April 16, 2005, article in The New Nation of Bangladesh headlined Japan-China tie: An altered image, noted that: In December last year, the Cabinet Office published the 2004 edition of the "Opinion Poll on Diplomacy." For more than a quarter of a century, this annual survey has been investigating the level of affinity that Japanese citizens have with other countries and how they see Japan's relations with these countries. Its findings serve not only as a barometer of Japanese views on other countries at a specific time but also as an indicator of longterm trends. It probes public feelings about the United States, Russia, China, South Korea, and other countries that have close ties with Japan.
While "The Japanese public has maintained its fairly stable views on the United States and Russia over the last twenty-five years..., on the other hand," Hiroshi wrote, feelings about China and South Korea have changed dramatically over the past twenty-five years. The top highlight in the recent survey findings is a clear decline in the proportion of those feeling close to China : 58.2 percent did not find that China is friendly to Japan and only 37.6 percent did.
Current demonstrations in China against Japan and Japan's response supports the conclusion that the opinions the two nations have of each are worsening. But why? I think it's all about gas, oil and Japanese aggression against China during World War II. It's also about Japan's attempt to obtain a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, which China, as one of the five permanent members with veto power, can and probably would veto. However, Thalif Deen, in an article at Asia Times Online headlined "Tussle over UN seats is a shadow play," disagrees with this conclusion.
Posted by Munir Umrani at April 16, 2005 03:46 PM
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