On the occasion working the celebration of the 30th anniversary of normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations, the Japan research institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences conducted an opinion poll among Chinese people, reporting the results in a Japanese newspaper, the Yomiuri Shimbun, on December 6. When asked "whether you cherish a kind feeling toward Japan", only 5.9 percent Chinese answered "yes", while as high as 43.3 percent questioned gave negative answers, and 47.6 percent said "so so".
A Chinese saying says, one who wins people's hearts would certainly conquer the whole world. If we apply it to today's international relations, we could say one who wins Chinese people's hearts wins friendly ties with China. The US, the only world power, often appears aggressive towards the Chinese government, but it never looks down upon the strength of the Chinese people, for it knows "ordinary Chinese" serve as the "bottom line" and most solid foundation of China's foreign policies towards which it must keep a distance.
It is hard to guess what poll-loving Japan would think about the result. But two points are certain. First, it must be said that Japan's 30-year of diplomatic work with China has not been successful, or may even be called a failure. It didn't even succeed at the grassroots level. Second, Japan would certainly attribute the result of the poll to China's version of history taught at schools, clearly stating in its diplomatic strategy adjustment report that Chinese people detest Japanese due to controversial education methods.
The year 1997 saw a large-scale poll by China Youth Daily named "Japan in the Eyes of China’s Youth", which revealed a very high proposition of negative view about Japan among Chinese youngsters. Five years have passed and still only 6 percent of people polled show a positive sentiment toward the country. It is widely known that Japan made considerable efforts to promote ties with China, so it is difficult to understand why today's Chinese have kept almost the same view towards their neighbor, 30 years after normalization of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations.
The problem at root of Sino-Japan ties is not only single historical issue, but also new problems which appear one after another. Among the old problems are disputes over history, war and Taiwan, while economic rows and the "China threat" theory constitute new ones, of which many are provoked actively by the Japanese side, and until now not a single one is seen being stirred up by China.
During the past 20 years, when talking about diplomacy towards China, Japan always refers to how much aid it has given China and forcing the country to express "thanks" on many occasions, and then criticizing Chinese media for not fully reporting its aid. Now Japan says that its aid enhancing the China's "threat" toward Japan, becoming the country’s biggest external threat. Of course, Japan also talks about friendly ties of generations between the two nations, but this is not spoken often.
In fact, Japan has never been serious on solving the fundamental problems between the two nations, especially those concerning history and mutual trust.
Throughout history, there have been more than 70 wars between France and Germany, but no one could have expected such close ties between the two countries today. The war between China and Japan during the last century is actually not such a big thing when looking at the whole history of China-Japan exchanges. Even up to now Japan has never been able to face the problem. On the contrary, it has declared more openly that all "anti-Japan" characters should be deleted from all museums and memorial halls across China and that Japanese politicians should visit the Yasukuni Shrine more frequently until the Chinese get used to it and cease to protest.
If Japan clings to its old ways of treating China and the Chinese people, it is hard to say whether the poll even achieve 6 percent in the future.
(People's Daily December 11, 2002)
