Japan's Development Aid to China The Long-Running Foreign Policy of Engagement

Paradoxically, Japan provides massive amounts of development aid to China, despite Japan's clear perception of China as a prime competitor in the Asia-Pacific region. This clearly written and comprehensive volume provides an overview of the way Japan's aid to China has developed since 1979. It explains the shifts that have taken place in Japan's China policy in the 1990s against the background of international changes and domestic changes in both countries, and offers new insights into the way Japanese aid policy making functions, thereby providing an alternative view of Japanese policy making that might be applied to other areas. Through a series of case studies, it shows Japan’s increasing willingness to use development aid to China for strategic goals and explains a significant shift of priority project areas of Japan’s China aid in the 1990s, from industrial infrastructure to socio-environmental infrastructure. The book argues that, contrary to the widely held view that Japan's aid to China is given for reasons of commercial self-interest, the objectives are much more complex and dynamic. Using original material, Takamine shows how policy making power within the Japanese government has shifted in recent years away from officials in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to politicians in the Liberal Democratic Party.

List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Note on Names List of Abbreviations 1. Introduction 2. Japan’s Pursuit of Economic and Political Engagement with China, 1945-78 3. Policy Objectives and Underlying Interests since 1979 4. Aid Policymaking: Institutions, Processes and Power Relations 5. Yen Loans to China: Development, Globalisation and Interdependence 6. Aid as a Strategic Tool: Three Cases of Aid Sanctions 7. The Effects of Japan’s Aid Policy to China and Implications for Bilateral Relations 8. Final Comments Appendix NotesBibliography Index

Dr Tsukasa Takamine studied International Politics and Asian Studies at Murdoch University, Western Australia. His areas of research interest include Japanese foreign policy and policymaking, international relations of the Asia Pacific, and the politics of Okinawa.