Anti-Japanese protests erupting across the mainland have further chilled Beijing's ties with Tokyo, mainland scholars warned, as Japanese officials tried to play down the negative impact of the rising nationalist sentiment.
Pang Zhongying , an international relations professor at Nankai University in Tianjin , said the weekend demonstrations against Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council were bad news for already strained Sino-Japanese ties.
Professor Pang said the massive protests and petition campaign against Japan's bid had put Beijing in an even more difficult decision ahead of the UN vote in September.
'The people have expressed their opinions on the issue, but public opinion may not align with the national interest. The government has to make the right decision, taking its long- and short-term implications into consideration.'
China, as one of the five current permanent members of the Security Council, had the power to veto Japan's bid, he noted.
Japanese embassy spokesman Ide Keiji played down the seriousness of the recent anti-Japanese activities, saying they had had little impact on bilateral ties.
'We noticed there were some anti-Japanese demonstrations in Chengdu and Shenzhen. As far as we know, the situation is not so serious. Japanese lives and property on the mainland have not been threatened yet. But we - both in China and back in Japan - are watching the situation closely.'