BEIJING, Aug. 16 -- The past 60 years, seemingly, have not erased the bitter memory of the Japanese invasion during the WWII among the Chinese, with wariness and detest towards the Japanese still widespread, according to recent surveys.¡¡

Chinese President Hu Jintao pays homage to Chinese war time dead in Beijing on August 15, 2005, the 60th anniversary of Japan's surrender. (newsphoto)

    The result of a survey conducted by a well read weekly "China Newsweek" via the Sina news portal shows that nearly 98 percent of all the 76,000 respondents equate the phrase "militarism and right wing force" with Japan in their mind.

    When asked whether Japan should be forgiven for its criminal past, more than half of the polled said no - even if the Japanese would repent on their kneels just as the Germans did.

    As for the direction of the future Sino-Japanese relation, a percentage of 59.64 gave a dim outlook, foreseeing a future war between the two powerhouse nations over energy resources.

    At the same time, some 35.53 percent of those polled held the idea that the relationship between the two Asian neighbors should be further enhanced on the base of the Chinese pardoning Japan over its wartime atrocities afflicted on the Chinese people.

    It's self-evident by the survey that the great mental anguish over Japan's invasion of China still lingers in the hearts of the Chinese people, even in the hearts of those vigorously beating contemporary young hearts who have grown up under an omnipresent spell of Japanese pop culture ranging from cartoons to popular sitcoms.

    The result of a China Youth Daily survey released on August 15, the 60th anniversary of Japan's WWII surrender, shows that nearly all 2,312 of the respondents, with an average age of 30, voiced their great indignation over militarist Japan's brutal invasion of China.

    According to the survey, only half of those polled still have family members who witnessed Japan's enormity to China and its people during WWII, despite the very strong feelings left by the memory of that dark history 60-75 years ago.

    An overwhelming 98.9 percent of the polled insist the Chinese people's 8-year fight against the invading Japanese enemies be remembered forever.

    However, a sheer outcry of wrath toward that disastrous history which has caused irreversible pain to the Chinese, as some insightful historians noted, can neither be held nor can remedy those sorrowful hearts. More understandingly Chinese youth nowadays react with sober reason to Japan's war crime.

    Nearly 70 percent of those who took the survey said they have forgiven those Japanese wartime soldiers who had repeatedly expressed their deep remorse over their wartime crime to the Chinese.

(Source: chinadaily.com.cn)