ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on Japan’s financial aid, including connectivity infrastructure finance, and suggests that the contribution from Japan’s Ministry of Finance officials to overall relationship development, especially in 1992–2005, has been greater than traditionally depicted by existing scholarship. It covers such factors as the influence of ideas and the role of individual officials, considering some of them to be policy entrepreneurs. Emphasising Japan’s role as a major concessional lender in the New Silk Road, this chapter also analyses the geopolitical implications of several multi-lateral infrastructure projects in the region sponsored by Japan, provocatively arguing that they were likely to be among the key prototypes of China’s Belt and Road.
