By Luke Hunt
Tokyo has earned plaudits for its aid approach, but it wants support for its maritime disputes.
The Japanese quest for diplomatic influence in Indochina has often been typified by a soft, behind-the-scenes approach backed by big spending on much-needed infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, health clinics and, in Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge Tribunal.
It’s a policy, also known as Proactive Pacifism, which Tokyo has maintained for decades, earning much respect in the process. It contrasts with the recent brash, big spending, no-questions-asked policies that have emerged with Chinese expansionism, as Beijing vies with Tokyo for regional influence.
Those attitudes remained unflinching as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe conducted a recent tour of Cambodia and Laos. It was as swift as it was brief.
Behind the scenes, Abe promised to keep funding the Khmer Rouge tribunal, provide expertise to the Cambodian government on electoral reform, and give more money for infrastructure development and poverty reduction in Laos and training for peacekeepers.
Read the full story at The Diplomat