Japan’s Positive Aid Sanctions Policies: Case Study of African Developing Countries

Abstract

The Japanese government has implemented various positive aid sanctions policies in African countries. There are two main reasons why the Japanese government preferred to use the positive sanctions. Firstly, the Japanese government refrained from taking strict measures against countries that maintain strong economic and diplomatic relations with Japan. Second, even if the Japanese government did take punitive measure against those countries it softened its stance as soon as a convenient pretext could be found. All this indicates that policymakers in Japanese government still give priority to Japan’s economic interests.Foreign Aid, Japan