Japan has relaxed its hostile attitude toward the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), after hopes that the US-initiated Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would create business opportunities ended once the US itself withdrew from the deal, said Li Ruoyu, researcher with the Institute of Japanese Studies at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, writing on the government-run
China.com.cn.
While attending the Belt and Road Summit earlier this month in Beijing, Toshihiro Nikai, secretary-general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, expressed in an interview the possibility of Japan joining the AIIB. Nikai’s attitude shows that Japan is now able to recognize the scope of China’s economic accomplishments more rationally and that it is adapting to the irreversible reality that China is a much larger economy than it once was, Li said.
The changing landscape of global politics is also shifting Japan's opinions, Li said. The promises of the TPP have become much more uncertain after the US left the deal. In fact, Li noted, Japan’s economic community had a strong interest in AIIB while the bank was still being set up, but for political reasons Japan didn't become one of the founding members of AIIB. Now Japan is ready to let business be business, he argued.
Although China should be happy about this move, Li said, there's no way that Japan will give up its alliance with the US in favor of China. Although it might be more realistic about trade, it won't ditch proposals such as amending the peace constitution and its attitude will still be shaped by politics.
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