TOKYO, January 31. /TASS/. Japanese public opinion is split down the middle as to whether the Asian country should join the sanctions that the US is threatening to impose on Russia over the situation around Ukraine, according to the results of a survey conducted by Nikkei, Japan’s leading economic newspaper.
Some 45% of the poll’s respondents think that due to the situation around Ukraine "Japan should make independent autonomous decisions taking into account its own relations with Russia." At the same time, 43% of the respondents think that Tokyo should "keep up" with Washington on the issue of sanctions against Russia. Other participants of the survey had difficulty in answering this question. Among those supporting Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, 49% supported the US position on sanctions.
Nikkei reiterates that Japan has always taken a significantly more restrained stance than the US on the issue of imposing any restrictions on Russia. Tokyo, for instance, takes into account the importance of talks with Moscow on concluding a peace treaty, the newspaper notes.
The opinion poll was conducted by Nikkei’s sociological service on January 28-30 over land-line and mobile phones based on a random computer selection with about 1,000 Japanese citizens over the age of 18 participating.