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Sino-Japanese ties very important

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-02 10:10

The majority of Japanese interviewed for a survey believe their country's relations with China are "as important, if not more", than relations with the United States, according to a recent survey.

A Chinese student performs Peking Opera during a reception at the Chinese embassy in Tokyo on Oct 27. Exchanges are becoming frequent between China and Japan. [Xinhua]

Six out of every 10 Japanese who participated in the survey, jointly conducted by China Daily and Genron NPO ahead of the Beijing-Tokyo forum, said Tokyo's relationship with Beijing was as important as with Washington, while another quarter thought Sino-Japan ties were far more important.

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Genron NPO, the survey's co-sponsor, is a leading Japanese think tank, similar to the American Council on Foreign Relations. The survey has been conducted annually over the past five years, focusing on "ordinary citizens" and "intellectuals". In China, the intellectuals interviewed were university students, who attend well-known and prestigious schools. In Japan, the 500-strong intellectual group was largely made up of previous members of Genron NPO.

Answers from both ordinary Japanese and intellectuals were "basically consistent when it came to evaluating ties with Beijing", the survey, which was conducted in May and June, found.

Feng Zhaokui, former deputy head of the institute of Japan Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said people in both countries rated Sino-Japanese ties extremely important.

"Given the fact that China beat the US to become Japan's largest trading partner in 2007, the findings of the survey are not very shocking," Feng said.

The survey also revealed that lingering disputes were preventing bilateral ties from improving. More than half of the Chinese interviewees said they still "dislike" Japan and its policies.

Japan's refusal to apologize over historical issues, its leaders' visits to the Yasukuni Shrine and Japan's aggression against China were among the top reasons most Chinese said they disliked Japan.