The Chinese people should separate their attitude towards ordinary Japanese from their attitude towards right-wing politicians and not try to over-simplify a complicated political struggle, said Zhou Mingwei, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee , in a recent CPPCC panel discussion.

A member of the 21th Century Committee for Sino-Japan Friendship, Zhou warned people to become aware of the indiscriminate hostility to Japanese.

“When Sino-Japanese relations were going through the most difficult period, the late Chairman Mao Zedong only chose to fight the Class-A war criminals and distinguish the criminals from the majority of the Japanese people. In addition, he divided militarist leaders from the rest of the Japanese political leaders,” Zhou said.

According to him, there is much less trust between the Chinese and Japanese people today than there was in the 1980s and 1990s. The loss of the mutual trust and understanding has consequently impeded bilateral relations.

He also criticized people for taking advantage of the political dispute for personal gains. He gave an example of a website which promoted a computer game called “fighting the Japanese devils” and scolded its intention to gain popularity by venting people’s rage in name of nationalism.

“Can the game really destroy Shinzo Abe’s overwhelming belligerence? Of course, not,” said Zhou, “it only gives a negative impression to the Japanese people, especially those who are friendly to China.”

The CPPCC, which opened on March 3 this year, is China’s top advisory body.