To join or not to join
Will Japan lend its muscle to China’s new Asian infrastructure bank?
ALONG with America, Japan was caught by surprise when European countries began queuing up in March to join China’s new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Officials from Japan’s finance ministry had advised Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, that Britain, for one, would never sign up (it was the first major Western country to put its hand up to join). Now that both Australia and South Korea are taking part, Japan is the last big holdout in the region. It is in a quandary.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “To join or not to join”
From the May 30th 2015 edition
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