Japan has granted $35 million to China,...
Japan has granted $35 million to China, its first government aid to Beijing since relations were soured by China’s bloody military crackdown on dissidents in June.
“This is the first money we have given them since June,” said a Japanese Embassy official. But he added that the two sides had agreed on the gift last year and said Japan’s suspension of new funding to China remained unchanged.
Western nations and Japan froze new government lending and aid to Beijing after China’s army crushed a student-led campaign for democracy in June.
The grant was originally planned for May or June this year but was postponed because of the unrest.
Beijing is eager to lure back Western loans and aid money, badly needed to pay for costly modernization at a time when the country is strapped for cash.
The Japanese official said Tokyo wanted Western nations to improve their ties with Beijing and opposed international policies that would isolate China.
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