Civilian visits key to ties with Japan

A Japanese cultural tourist group of about 3,000 people will be on a three-day-visit to China from Friday. Comprising mainly professionals from the tourism industry and led by some Japanese city mayors, the group aims to promote cultural exchanges between the two countries and strengthen coordination. Comments:

Interaction between civilians cannot be more important for China and Japan at a time when they really need to understand each other better. We hope people from the two countries know more about each other through civilian exchanges, and, in turn, help improve Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations.

people.com.cn, quoting Cheng Yonghua, China's ambassador to Japan, May 15

The best way to get a clearer picture of a foreign country is to visit it. Many Japanese students who visit China often choose to stay with local families to know about their lives. That's fundamentally different from watching TV and reading newspapers, because both sources of news could be biased. Let us hope more Chinese students and other civilians visit Japan and construct a picture of the country that is different from that painted by some rightwing politicians.

Chen Yan, an expert on Japanese studies, via caixin blog, May 12

The main reason for the current icy relationship between China and Japan is lack of mutual trust, which is also to blame for the lack of proper knowledge about history among Japanese people. When a high percentage of Japanese people, misled by their politicians, remain ignorant about their country's wrongdoings, all efforts of improving relations will be in vain. The situation can improve only if Japanese politicians reverse the trend of distorting history.

xinhuanet.com, May 13