Why Japan-China ties can benefit from promoting people-to-people exchanges

In another case, when Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed a group of 3,000 Japanese visitors in 2015, some Japanese media reported the speech with the caption, “No tolerance for distortion of history, said Xi”. Overall, however, this speech was the friendliest speech given by a Chinese leader since the golden age of Japan-China relations in the 1980s.

Third, differences in culture, values or ways of thinking between Japan and China lead people to make wrong judgments about the other side by applying their own standards. When former prime minister Shinzo Abe visited the Yasukuni Shrine in 2013, many Chinese analysts argued that his purpose was to whip up nationalist sentiments and enhance the cohesiveness of the nation. However, all the public surveys conducted in Japan at that time indicated that the populace was completely divided over the visit. Abe’s decision to make the trip low-key suggested he knew his country was divided on the issue.

Public perceptions of each other are very important in bilateral relations. If they are negative, politicians are discouraged from making efforts to improve ties, while businesses can also be affected. Both sides must therefore attend to public sentiments lest they lose the support of the people. In recent years, public opinion of Japan-China relations has been rather negative in both countries. According to a joint survey conducted by the Japanese Genron NPO and the China International Publishing Group in October and November 2024, 89 per cent of Japanese respondents and 88 per cent of their Chinese counterparts did not have a good impression of the other side.

How do we improve public opinion if we cannot rely on mass and social media? One way is to reduce friction in the realms of security and politics. If this approach is difficult, another way is to fill the information gap through direct contact between the two peoples. People-to-people relations can be strengthened through mutual visits and face-to-face exchanges. The above-mentioned survey, conducted annually in both countries, strongly suggests that increased visits by Chinese tourists and businesspeople will help boost their perceptions of Japan.

Most people’s perceptions are formed by the information they have daily access to. Once they visit a country and gain new experiences, their views are bound to change. The Japan-China Friendship Centre organises mutual visits for hundreds of Chinese and Japanese youth each year. In almost all cases, their impressions change for the better. The most effective way to improve perceptions is through homestays, as the hosts and guests then communicate on a deeper emotional level.

To stabilise and improve Japan-China relations, I strongly hope the Chinese government will reopen the channels of communication that have been shut down in the past few months and resume people-to-people exchanges. To facilitate this process, I hope the Japanese government will elucidate its security policy and clarify the gist of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks in November that triggered China’s tough response. Today, almost all Japan-China exchanges have stopped, including those between top businesspeople, students, sister cities, and even friendship organisations. When Takaichi and Xi met last October in South Korea, they agreed on the importance of multilevel communication across a wide range of areas.

I hope both governments will implement this agreement because people-to-people relations are vitally important in closing the information gap, understanding the causes of differing perspectives, enabling heart-to-heart contact, and thus improving their perceptions of each other.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore.