Islands dispute hammers attitudes (2)

Email|Print|Comments       twitter     facebook     Sina Microblog     reddit    

The two countries had agreed to put aside issues surrounding the islands as Beijing and Tokyo focused on warming up their political and economic ties over the past four decades. But recent Japanese governments have sought to change the status quo and deny the existence of a dispute, which angered China.

The findings show that 92.8 percent of Chinese surveyed hold a negative attitude toward Japan, 28 percentage points higher than last year. Similarly, 90.1 percent of ordinary Japanese have negative feelings toward China, in contrast to 84.3 percent last year.

Hu Jiping, director of the Institute of Japanese Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the neighbors are in urgent need of negotiations to break the ice and stop relations getting worse.

"It is impractical to expect the territorial dispute to be solved completely. We can only agree on provisional arrangements at the moment," Hu said.

The annual China Daily/Genron NPO poll elicits responses from all sections of society.

We Recommend

• Air Forces arrive at designated area to join China-Russia drill
  
• China’s weekly story (2013.7.27-8.2)
• Top 25 museums in the world in 2013
• Italian Supreme Court confirms Berlusconi's jail verdict
• Run naked as punishment for missing sales target
• Photo story: Will Wulin gain its former fame