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Tokyo to seek dialog over ending war reparations to China
posted Monday, 14 February 2005
Amid a series of tense political standoffs, but booming economic cooperation, the Japanese government has indicated that it is about to seek direct talks with Beijing to draw the Japan’s provision of Official Development Aid to China to an amicable close.
The most recent round of speculation over the eventual cessation of financial support to China comes hot on the heals of a press reports earlier this month that Machimura Nobutaka, Japan’s serving foreign minister Foreign Minister, had said that Japan intended to end its aid to China, and would seek a meeting to ensure that the cessation of aid went smoothly and was not too disruptive.
Analysts and the media have speculated that Japanese financial aid to China may end in 2008, just prior to the Beijing Olympic, or in 2010, when Shanghai is scheduled to host a World Exposition
Japan has already reduced low interest loans being offered to China for three consecutive years. During the 2003/2004 fiscal period, China received $US940 Million in aid from Japan, a 20 percent reduction over the prior fiscal period.
Currently, Japanese ODA consists of favourable loans, credit agreements, and special interest grants.
Under revised plans, it is likely that aid to specific causes, for example the immunization of children against Polio and the promotion of cross border youth and cultural exchanges, will continue or be increased as aid for economic development is decreased, until ODA becomes a purely health and social fund.
ODA?
ODA was originally the name given to Japan’s war reparations, compensation paid out to many countries in recognition of Japan’s guilt over war time atrocities committed in Asia, though it has since become a more general aid package offered to many nations outside the scope of Japanese aggression. India is currently the largest single recipient of Japanese ODA.
Japan’s ODA to China begun soon after the normalization of relations in 1972 and was seen as a face saving measure for both sides, allowing China’s communist government to accept financial aid from Japan, despite Chairman Mao’s pronouncement that China neither want or need reparations, and Japan to pay reparations while avoiding the stigma of using the name reparations.
Many in Japan argue that China’s booming economy means that it now no longer requires financial aid from Japan, and that Japan has long since paid its dues in terms of war reparations, which official accounts by the Chinese government say were settled on or close to the 1972 opening formal intergovernmental relations.
Prior to 1972, Japan recognized Chinese Taiwan as being the legal successor of the ousted Chinese government and much of the post war dialog was conducted with officials based on the island.
The 1972 signing saw Tokyo fully and formally switch diplomatic relations to mainland China.
Abusing of ODA?
Along with the debate over the continuation of aid to China, there have been sustained complaints over the overt lack of transparency from the Chinese side over how and where ODA is distributed, and many claims that ODA has been used to supplement the Chinese budget at a time when increased military spending is drawing funds away from schemes that are being supported or partially supported by ODA.
Elements within the Japanese public and government have also been calling for some time for Japanese aid to be linked to improving relations, calling on the Chinese government to improve the perception of Japan in the eyes of the Chinese public and to bring the depiction of modern and historic Japan in line with reality.
Acknowledging ODA?
In recent years there have been a strong protest that the Chinese government still refuses to publicly acknowledge the true extent of Japanese ODA, or that it forms part of Japan’s admission of guilt, over its bloodthirsty occupation of China, and is war reparations in all but name.
To date, most Chinese citizens still believe that China received no compensation from Japan, and are unaware of the purpose and existence of ODA payments.
Reparations and the stigma attached to them were a prime factor in the rise of the Nazi in Germany, and were a direct cause of WWII, one of the most brutal periods in human history.
The most recent round of speculation over the eventual cessation of financial support to China comes hot on the heals of a press reports earlier this month that Machimura Nobutaka, Japan’s serving foreign minister Foreign Minister, had said that Japan intended to end its aid to China, and would seek a meeting to ensure that the cessation of aid went smoothly and was not too disruptive.
Analysts and the media have speculated that Japanese financial aid to China may end in 2008, just prior to the Beijing Olympic, or in 2010, when Shanghai is scheduled to host a World Exposition
Japan has already reduced low interest loans being offered to China for three consecutive years. During the 2003/2004 fiscal period, China received $US940 Million in aid from Japan, a 20 percent reduction over the prior fiscal period.
Currently, Japanese ODA consists of favourable loans, credit agreements, and special interest grants.
Under revised plans, it is likely that aid to specific causes, for example the immunization of children against Polio and the promotion of cross border youth and cultural exchanges, will continue or be increased as aid for economic development is decreased, until ODA becomes a purely health and social fund.
ODA?
ODA was originally the name given to Japan’s war reparations, compensation paid out to many countries in recognition of Japan’s guilt over war time atrocities committed in Asia, though it has since become a more general aid package offered to many nations outside the scope of Japanese aggression. India is currently the largest single recipient of Japanese ODA.
Japan’s ODA to China begun soon after the normalization of relations in 1972 and was seen as a face saving measure for both sides, allowing China’s communist government to accept financial aid from Japan, despite Chairman Mao’s pronouncement that China neither want or need reparations, and Japan to pay reparations while avoiding the stigma of using the name reparations.
Many in Japan argue that China’s booming economy means that it now no longer requires financial aid from Japan, and that Japan has long since paid its dues in terms of war reparations, which official accounts by the Chinese government say were settled on or close to the 1972 opening formal intergovernmental relations.
Prior to 1972, Japan recognized Chinese Taiwan as being the legal successor of the ousted Chinese government and much of the post war dialog was conducted with officials based on the island.
The 1972 signing saw Tokyo fully and formally switch diplomatic relations to mainland China.
Abusing of ODA?
Along with the debate over the continuation of aid to China, there have been sustained complaints over the overt lack of transparency from the Chinese side over how and where ODA is distributed, and many claims that ODA has been used to supplement the Chinese budget at a time when increased military spending is drawing funds away from schemes that are being supported or partially supported by ODA.
Elements within the Japanese public and government have also been calling for some time for Japanese aid to be linked to improving relations, calling on the Chinese government to improve the perception of Japan in the eyes of the Chinese public and to bring the depiction of modern and historic Japan in line with reality.
Acknowledging ODA?
In recent years there have been a strong protest that the Chinese government still refuses to publicly acknowledge the true extent of Japanese ODA, or that it forms part of Japan’s admission of guilt, over its bloodthirsty occupation of China, and is war reparations in all but name.
To date, most Chinese citizens still believe that China received no compensation from Japan, and are unaware of the purpose and existence of ODA payments.
Reparations and the stigma attached to them were a prime factor in the rise of the Nazi in Germany, and were a direct cause of WWII, one of the most brutal periods in human history.
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