TOKYO, April 26 (UPI) -- More than 70 percent of Japanese disagree with China's assertion that Japan should act out of remorse over its wartime history, a survey has found.
Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun on Tuesday reported the results of its survey, in which it telephoned about 1,650 voters Sunday, the day after Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese President Hu Jintao met at the sidelines of the Asia-Africa Summit in Indonesia.
During their meeting Hu asserted that the Japanese view of its history has hurt the feelings of Chinese people and said Japan should act out of remorse over its history.
Only 19 percent of respondents agreed with Hu's assertion, compared with 71 percent who disagreed, the newspaper reported.
As for Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine -- where the war dead honored include about 1,000 convicted war criminals from World War II -- 48 percent of those surveyed said the prime minister should stop making pilgrimages, while 36 percent said he should continue his visits.
About half of the respondents said they expect Japanese-Chinese relations to improve in the near future, while an almost equal number said they doubt ties will soon improve.
