US, Japan trust each other but both wary of China: poll

Over seven decades after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and dragged the United States into a global war, Americans and Japanese overwhelmingly trust each other and are wary of China, an opinion poll has shown.
In contrast to the oft-heard calls from Beijing for more Japanese contrition over World War II, around two-thirds of Americans believe Tokyo has apologised enough or has no need to say sorry.
The findings, released yesterday by the US-based Pew Research Center come just weeks before Shinzo Abe is set to travel to the United States, where he will become the first Japanese prime minister to address a joint session of the US Congress.

His speech will be carefully watched for any indication of how he will mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII later in the year, with Beijing urging him to "show sincerity" over his nation's past crimes.
But the poll by Pew found no significant animosity exists between people in Japan and the US, despite their four years of war until 1945 and the subsequent American occupation until 1952.
"Adversaries in World War II, fierce economic competitors in the 1980s and early 1990s, Americans and Japanese nonetheless share a deep mutual respect," the think tank said in its annual report based on the survey of 1,000 people from each country.

About 68 per cent of Americans trust Japan and 75 per cent of Japanese trust the United States, the survey showed, while only 30 per cent of Americans and seven percent of Japanese trust China.

Six in ten Americans believe that the rise of China as a military and economic power makes relations between Japan and the United States more important, it said.
At the same time, "more Americans, especially young Americans, think it is important to have strong economic ties with China than believe it is important to have such ties with Japan," it said.
"A majority of Americans see Japan as a status quo economic power, neither rising nor declining."

Japanese brands fare well in US public opinion, with Sony seen in a favourable light by 88 per cent of respondents and carmaker Toyota by 85 per cent.
However, for Brand Abe, the news was not so good: "only 11 percent of Americans have a favourable view of current Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.