Japan’s Abe Signals Support for China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative

(Tokyo) – Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signaled that Tokyo will participate in China’s “Belt and Road” trade and investment initiative, in an overture seen as an attempt to improve bilateral ties, Japanese media said. He wants certain needs met, however.

The Chinese plan has the "potential to connect East and West" and Japan is "ready to extend cooperation" on the project, Abe said in a speech given at an international conference Monday, the Nikkei Asian Review reported.

It was the first time that the Japanese leader has offered support for the signature program of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Tokyo’s relations with Beijing have frayed over issues ranging from Japan’s wartime history to disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Xi proposed the initiative, also known as "One Belt, One Road," in 2013 to try to strengthen China’s relations with countries in Asia, Africa and Europe, primarily through infrastructure investment and construction.

The plan includes an overland Silk Road Economic Belt that connects China with Europe through Central Asia, and an ocean-based 21st Century Maritime Silk Road that links countries to the south of China and leads all the way to Africa and southern Europe.

Wary of China’s rising influence in the region, Japan had been cautious about lending its backing to such international drives led by its neighbor. Japan and its ally the United States are the only Group of Seven developed economies that have yet to join the Beijing-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Nonetheless, Abe’s endorsement of the "Belt and Road" initiative came with conditions.

“It is critical for infrastructure to be open to use by all, and to be developed through procurement that is transparent and fair," he said, according to the Kyodo news agency.

“I furthermore consider it essential for projects to be economically viable and to be financed by debt that can be repaid, and not to harm the soundness of the debtor nation’s finances.”

The softening stance followed Abe’s remarks last month that he could be open to signing up with the AIIB if questions surrounding the environmental impacts of its projects and other issues are resolved.

Abe is seeking to warm ties with Beijing on concerns over a policy shift in Washington since President Donald Trump came to power and pulled the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact.

Mending fences with Beijing is “in some sense a wise insurance policy against getting lost in the shuffle,” the report by Nikkei Asian Review said.

Abe also hopes that better relations with Beijing could give Tokyo and its allies more leverage over North Korea, which has yet to cease its nuclear tests despite sanctions by the United Nations Security Council. North Korea relies on China for most of its trade, it added.

Contact reporter Fran Wang (fangwang@caixin.com)