China seen as security threat by over 90% of Japanese, new survey shows

“I do not think these numbers come as any great surprise,” said Sumie Kawakami, a lecturer at Yamanashi Gakuin University southwest of Tokyo. “North Korea has been firing a lot of missiles recently, and I find it interesting that [national broadcaster] NHK used to refer to these launches as of ‘projectiles’, but now they are simply calling them missiles.”

“There has been a realisation that North Korea is being more provocative and that these are missiles that can cause a lot of damage,” she added.

Kawakami said it was “inevitable” that there would be greater public concern surrounding Russia since the conflict in Ukraine had stunned the Japanese people and news about the ongoing fighting in Eastern Europe was unavoidable.

“The figures for China also reflect the alarm of ordinary people, although I am a little surprised it has gone as high as 92 per cent,” she said.

“China has for many years been aggressive towards Japan and other countries in the region, but I think what has happened in Ukraine has shown people here what could happen if China attacked Taiwan,” Kawakami said. “They worry that Japan would get drawn into fighting, and what we are seeing on television in Ukraine could happen here as well.”

Ken Kato, a businessman from Tokyo and paid-up member of the Liberal Democratic Party, said he believed it was a “positive” that more people were expressing concern about the security challenges that the nation faces.

“People have not been taking these threats seriously for a long time, and they have just become worse,” he said. “It is a positive thing that people are waking up to just how dangerous this region is.”

Kato described North Korea as the “biggest threat”, he said it was a “dictatorship where Kim [Jong-un] could wake