53pc of Chinese expect to go to war with Japan: poll

More than half of Chinese people think their country could go to war with Japan in the future, a poll revealed yesterday.

A survey conducted in both nations found that 53.4 per cent of Chinese envisage a future conflict, with more than a fifth of those saying it would happen "within a few years", while 29 per cent of Japanese foresee military confrontation.

The survey findings came ahead of today's second anniversary of Japan's nationalisation of the disputed Diaoyu, or Senkaku, islands in the East China Sea - the focus of bilateral tensions. They also come amid reports that the United States may be engaged in discussions with Japan on how to expand its offensive capabilities. The survey was conducted by Japanese non-governmental organisation Genron and state-run China Daily in July and last month.

Some 1,000 Japanese adults, and 1,539 Chinese in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Shenyang and Xian, were questioned for the annual survey.

Ninety-three per cent of Japanese respondents said their impression of China was "unfavourable", worsening from 90.1 per cent last year and the highest level since the survey began in 2005. The percentage of Chinese who have an unfavourable impression of Japan stood at 86.8 per cent, an improvement on 92.8 per cent last year.