JAPAN

80% of Japanese fear military clash around Senkakus, poll finds

Chinese demonstrators hold national flags while marching on a street during a protest against Japan in Chengdu, China, in September 2012. | AP

By Jesse Johnson
Staff Writer

Sep 14, 2016

Will the waters around the disputed Senkaku Islands see a Sino-Japanese conflict? Eighty percent of Japanese think so.

A poll by the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based think tank, found 35 percent of Japanese respondents are "very concerned" and 45 percent "somewhat concerned" that territorial disputes between China and its neighbors — namely the Senkakus row — could erupt in conflict.

The isles, located about 400 km west of Okinawa's main island, are administered by Japan but claimed by China and Taiwan, which call them Diaoyu and Tiaoyutai, respectively.

80% of Japanese fear military clash around Senkakus, poll finds

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