More than 80 percent of Chinese and South Korean respondents to a recent survey oppose Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine and Japan's bid to become a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council.
The Kyodo News survey also found that overall sentiment toward Japan is spiraling downward. Eighty-three percent of respondents in China said they do not have a favorable opinion of Japan, up from 67 percent in a 2002 survey. The figure was 75 percent in South Korea this time, up from 69 percent three years ago.
The worsening sentiment apparently reflects Japan's soured relations with the two nations due to Koizumi's annual visits to the war-related Shinto shrine, territorial rows and disputes over Japanese history textbooks.