Prevent evil acts from undermining China-Japan relations

People's Daily, June 29, 2012

Some Japanese had tried to play the "public opinion card" to gain the so-called initiative in the China-Japan relations but it actually worsened the foundation of public opinion. Therefore, the two peoples of insight should go into action to prevent the wicked behavior from undermining the China-Japan friendship.

Recently, some Japanese politicians once again ignored the overall situation and provoked the Diaoyu Island dispute to intensify the antagonism between the two peoples and poison the China-Japan relations, causing serious trouble for the future development of China-Japan relationship.

Japanese media reports said that eight Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly members departed to conduct a so-called "survey" in the waters of the Diaoyu Island on the night of June 25. Subsequently, the newly elected Japanese defense minister explained to the media that Japan must strengthen its overall defense capabilities in the southwestern region to guard its territory.

The Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands have been China's inherent territory since ancient times and anyone cannot shake the indisputable sovereign rights whether the Japanese politicians "survey" the Diaoyu Island and make the farce of purchasing or the Japanese officials take "hardline attitude" now and then.

Japanese politicians' absurd representation on the Diaoyu Island issue is related to the domestic current situation of Japan. In recent years, Japan's political field is chaotic and its domestic economy is bleak. Therefore, some politicians attempted to pump the state up with the Diaoyu Island dispute and survive in the political arena. Some Japanese find it difficult to adapt to the changes of China-Japan balance of power, trying to gain the initiative in China-Japan relations by playing the "public opinion card."

The Eighth Public Opinion on China-Japan Relations Survey 2012 is a vigilant signal. According to the survey, 84 percent of Japanese respondents have a bad impression of China, increasing 6 percent from 78 percent in 2011. This is the poorest number since the survey was carried out in 2005. In the survey, 70 percent of Japanese respondents regarded the territorial issue as the root cause hindering the China-Japan relations, which should put blame on the frequent instigation of Japanese politicians on the Diaoyu Island issue.

This year is the 40th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan relations and the China-Japan relationship has entered a new turning point. The two peoples of insight should go into action to resolutely prevent the evil behavior from kidnapping the China-Japan relations and undermining China-Japan friendship and jointly safeguard and promote the healthy and stable development of China-Japan relations.