--- description: More than half of China's citizens expect their country to be at war with Japan in as little as six years title: Chinese Majority Expects War With Japan by 2020, Survey Says image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01dfd4242556c3e7/6986a2a8e53aba740c4d4558/152069098.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Majority of Chinese Expect War With Japan by 2020, Poll Finds  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 10, 2014 5:53 PM CUT  Anti-Japan protesters are confronted by police as they demonstrate over the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands on Sept. 16, 2012, in Shenzhen Anti-Japan protesters are confronted by police as they demonstrate over the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands on Sept. 16, 2012, in ShenzhenLam Yik Fei—Getty Images  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 10, 2014 5:53 PM CUT More than half of China’s citizens expect their country to be at war with Japan in as little as six years, according to a new public opinion poll that finds a widening sense of mistrust and hostility between the two countries. About 53% of Chinese respondents and 29% of Japanese respondents expected a war to break out by the year 2020, according to a joint survey conducted by newspaper _China Daily_ and Genron, a Japanese NGO. Each country’s favorability rating of the other remained at [historic lows](http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2014-09/10/content%5F18571095.htm "undefined"): 93% of Japanese respondents reported having a negative impression of China, the worst rating in the survey’s decadelong history, while 87% of Chinese responded negatively to Japan, a slight decrease from last year’s record high. Tensions between Japan and China flared in 2013 over disputed islands in the East China Sea, and diplomats from both countries [accused](http://world.time.com/2014/01/06/japanese-diplomat-warns-china-to-not-become-asias-voldemort/ "undefined") one another of behaving like “Voldemort,” the evil wizard from the _Harry Potter_ fame. The rhetoric has cooled slightly since then, but public resentment evidently is still running deep. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3318650/china-war-japan-2020-poll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3318650/china-war-japan-2020-poll/"},"headline":"Majority of Chinese Expect War With Japan by 2020, Poll Finds","datePublished":"2014-09-10T17:53:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:06:32.774Z","description":"About 53% of Chinese respondents expect war to break out between the two countries before the end of the decade, a new survey found","url":"https://time.com/3318650/china-war-japan-2020-poll/","keywords":["China","Japan","war","diplomacy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01dfd4242556c3e7/6986a2a8e53aba740c4d4558/152069098.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt01dfd4242556c3e7/6986a2a8e53aba740c4d4558/152069098.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Anti-Japan Protests Erupt In China","caption":"Anti-Japan Protests Erupt In China","creditText":"Lam Yik Fei—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3318650/china-war-japan-2020-poll/","name":"Majority of Chinese Expect War With Japan by 2020, Poll Finds"}}]}] ```