From the article:
Currently boasting a robust membership of 77 countries, the bank is largely seen as a rival to the U.S.-led World Bank or the Japan and U.S.-dominated Asian Development Bank in Manila. Following former U.S. President Barack Obama’s lead, Japan withheld membership to become the only two Group of Seven (G7) countries that have yet to join.
However, shifts in U.S. relations in the region under President Donald Trump may be forcing Japan to reconsider soon, despite its own bilateral tensions with China.
“At the very least, the U.S. very visibly not joining gave the Japanese some breathing room to hold back,” Scott Morris, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development, told Humanosphere.
“But what’s striking now is, as a clear reaction to what’s going on in Washington – a sense of a White House in disarray, a lack of strong engagement in Asia, the very early rejection of the Trans-Pacific Partnership – I suspect the Japanese increasingly feel like they don’t have the ability to hide behind the shadow of the U.S.,” Morris said. “They really have to make a judgement about moving forward, so we’re now seeing some positive signals.”
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