Some 86 per cent of the 3,000 respondents in the annual Cabinet Office survey had negative feelings about China and were concerned about Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, Taiwan and the Diaoyu Islands.
Critics say Osaka-based industrial and engineering firm Hitachi Zosen’s depositing of funds earmarked for compensation with a Korean court breaks with Japan’s position on the issue and sets a bad precedent.
Despite the many and varied threats to regional stability, analysts say there is little likelihood that the nations of the Indo-Pacific will come together in a local version of NATO.