About half of Japanese and Chinese respondents said they believe a military conflict could occur in the Taiwan Strait in the future, an annual survey showed, amid increased cross-strait tensions following a high-profile U.S. visit to the island in August.
Altogether, 44.5% of Japanese and 56.7% of Chinese people pointed to the possibility of conflict either "within several years" or "in the future" generally, according to the poll released Wednesday by the Japanese nonprofit think tank Genron NPO and the China International Communications Group (CICG).
Tensions have grown over Taiwan since the August trip by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, with China reacting to the visit by conducting large-scale military drills near the self-ruled democratic island.