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)