China's Japan Policy and Domestic Politics
The Republic of China's Japan policy is a mixture of domestic politics & foreign policy. Domestic politics are more openly debated than foreign politics in China, because the latter is still strictly controlled with central decision making. However, domestic interests are affected by foreign policy. Thus, public opinion, with its economic & emotional aspects, has put pressure on foreign policy decisions &, in the last 20 years, has even intermittently threatened Sino-Japanese relations, eg, in the dispute over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands & Taiwan. The memory of Japanese aggression & hostilities lingers in the mass media & youth-oriented publications, in particular, & threats to Chinese security surface with increases in Japanese militarism. Positive economic interests offset these negative images. Recurring incidents continue to strain policy, but the balance is more positive than negative. M. Pflum