China’s Neighbors Worry About its Growing Military Strength

The latest poll by the Pew Research Center reveals an intense distrust in Asia, not only between traditional rivals like Japan and China, but also between China and India as well as Japan and Pakistan. The public opinion survey, part of the Pew Global Attitudes Project, was conducted in China, India, Japan, Pakistan, Russia, and the US. Its results confirm that Chinese hostility toward Japan has lingered since World War II. In China, 81 percent of respondents suggest that Japan has not apologized sufficiently for its actions during the war and 78 percent oppose Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s controversial visits to the Yasukuni Shrine. Meanwhile, China’s neighbors are more concerned with China’s growing military might than its economic development. India is the only country in which respondents suggest that China will overtake the US as the dominant world power within 50 years. – YaleGlobal