Japanese public sentiment towards China worsened in 2023 amid controversy over Fukushima sewage releases and other issues, a Cabinet Office survey has found.
The survey released Friday found that 86.7% of respondents felt that China was unfriendly, an increase of 4.9 percentage points from the previous year, while 12.7% of respondents felt that China was friendly. It decreased by 5.1 points.
The percentage of people who believe that Japan-China relations are important for both countries and the Asia-Pacific region decreased by 5.3 points to a record low of 68.2%.
The mail survey was conducted between September 7th and October 15th last year among 3,000 people aged 18 and over nationwide, with 55% valid responses.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said Japan’s sentiments toward China have been exacerbated by the Chinese government’s ban on imports of Japanese seafood following Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings’ discharge of treated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean. said that it had been adversely affected.
The survey also found that public sentiment towards South Korea had improved significantly, reflecting the improvement in relations between the two countries following the meeting between Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yun Seok-yew in March last year.
The number of people who evaluated Japan-Korea relations as “smooth” increased by 17.8 points to 46.1%, while the number of people who evaluated them negatively decreased by 17.5 points to 49.8%.
On the other hand, the percentage of respondents who said they had “no affinity” for Russia, which continues to invade Ukraine, increased by 0.6 points to 95.3%, a record high.