One of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's foreign policy goals is to team up with other Asian countries threatened by the rise of China. He's expanding Japan's aid for big infrastructure projects in Asian nations. In some cases the Japanese government finances these ventures through grants and loans; in others the Asian Development Bank, I which has assets of $116 billion, counts 67 member countries, and is effectively controlled by Japan, lends the money. Japan and the ADB have been funding projects since 1966, but the pace has picked up in the past year. On July 4, at a summit of five Mekong River nations, Abe pledged 750 billion yen ($6.1 billion) in aid, part of his plan to increase by 25 percent Japanese and ADB funding for infrastructure projects. The ADB lent more than $10 billion last year in Asia, a 17 percent increase from 2013. That, the ADB promises, is just the start of its new, more generous policy. In the spring, the bank unveiled plans to increase annual operations by 50 percent. "I want ADB to be stronger, better, and faster," the bank's president, Takehiko Nakao, said in a May 4 speech.
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