Amid China's growing belligerence, negative sentiment among Japanese people toward Beijing increases

Tokyo [Japan], November 19 : Amid China's growing belligerence, negative sentiment among Japanese people toward Beijing has increased, according to an opinion poll.
A survey conducted by a non-profit organisation in September and October showed that 54.1 per cent of people in Japan felt that bilateral ties are bad or relatively bad, while 22.6 per cent in China felt the same, NHK reported.
Besides this, nearly 90 per cent of Japanese people who were surveyed, said they have an unfavourable or relatively unfavourable view of China, while 52.9 per cent in China said the same of Tokyo.
NHK reported an official at Genron NPO saying that the survey shows concern among Japanese respondents about China's aggressiveness in the South and East China seas, adding that Beijing may be finding the need for stronger ties with Japan amid the tensions with the US.
The survey, which was conducted on November 17, found that an increasing number of Chinese view the bilateral relationship with Japan as important amid Beijing's growing tensions between the US on several issues including the Hong Kong security law, trade, and the coronavirus pandemic.
Over the significance of bilateral ties, 64.2 per cent of Japanese people said they are important or relatively important, which has comes down 8.5 percentage points from a year before.
Meanwhile, in China, 74.7 per cent of respondents described the bilateral ties as important or relatively important, up 7.7 percentage points.
On the ongoing conflict between China and the United States, 54.8 per cent in Japan said both countries are responsible, while a percentage of 86.2 in China blamed the US.
The joint survey was conducted by the China International Publishing Group and the Japanese non-profit group, Genron NPO, in which around 2,600 people in the two countries responded.