January 2015

Challenges Faced with the Japanese and Chinese Media
Examined through Historical Background

From a Symposium Marking the 50th Anniversary of the Sino-Japanese Journalist Exchange Agreement

Ken-ichi Yamada

The recent Japan-China relations are said to be “worst since the normalization of diplomatic ties,” and public opinion surveys in both countries find that, when asked about the image of the counterpart country, approximate 90% of respondents chose “not good” for China/Japan, respectively. Although key factors for this are the confrontations regarding “historical perceptions” and the “Senkaku Islands” (known as the “Diaoyu Islands” in China), some point out “biases” in media reports of both countries is also a contributor. Against this backdrop, a symposium to reflect on the half century of Japanese media coverage on China and Chinese media coverage on Japan in September 2014 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Sino-Japanese Journalist Exchange Agreement. A series of presentations and discussions revealed China had had much severer press restrictions in the past than today. The Chinese society has clearly increased its openness since the 1980s, but Japanese affinity to China has declined in inverse proportion, which was not only influenced by political issues, but also by “stereotyping” of reports on each other by both Japanese and Chinese media in the environment where reports “speaking ill of China/Japan” are selling. In a presentation on Chinese coverage on Japan 50 years ago, the speaker shared with us recollection of a Chinese correspondent in Japan: ‘We had to find people and cases to report that some Japanese “love and respect Maoism” and “try to learn from books written by Mao Zedong” because these stories had the best chance to be approved by the headquarters of the Xinhua News Agency.’ This story reminded me of the current situation—the reality of reporters immersed in stereotyping is analogous to today’s reports on China in Japan. In the past, Japanese correspondents in Beijing would feel a “deep sense of redemption” and sometimes lacked objectivity when reporting on China, but now, conversely, a “deep sense of aversion” to China is threatening the objectivity of reports on China.

The NHK Monthly Report on Broadcast Research