Over 80 per cent Chinese have no knowledge of 1962 war: survey

Beijing: More than 80 per cent of the Chinese population have no knowledge of the 1962 war with India and want the two neighbours to walk out of the shadow of conflict, a survey by state-run media said. Only about 15 per cent of the respondents knew about the 1962 war in the survey conducted on the eve of 50th anniversary of the India-China war in seven major cities by the state-run Global Times.

The poll was conducted "to explore how the Chinese have been remembering that dispute, and what their impressions about India are now" and it surprisingly yielded positive response, the paper said, contradicting the negative results of a similar poll by a US agency. Over 80 per cent Chinese felt neutral or positive about Indians while most believed that two neighbours can move beyond the spectre of war, the survey said.

Asked about their impression of India, 78 per cent of respondents said they have a neutral stance toward it, while only 16.4 per cent dislike the country, the daily said. The survey also said slightly over 40 per cent of the respondents believed that there is the possibility of military conflict on the borders of China and India, while more than 39 per cent of the surveyed said there is little possibility of such conflicts. Around 17 per cent ruled out the possibility, the daily said.

Only about 15 per cent of the respondents knew about the 1962 war in the survey conducted on the eve of 50th anniversary of the India-China war.

Over 61 per cent of the people regarded Sino-Indian ties as normal or good, while over 34 per cent of the respondents believed the two countries have constant frictions. This is in sharp contrast to the recent survey results published by Washington based PEW agency which stated that "roughly a quarter (23 per cent) have a favourable opinion of India, while 62 per cent offer a negative opinion."

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