Aiding Regional Instability? The Paradox of Japanese Dev. Assistance to China," by Joshua Muldavin, Geopolitics, Vol. 5, No. 3, Winter 2000, pp. 22-47.

"The Geography of Japanese Development Aid to China, 1978-1998," by Joshua Muldavin, Environment and Planning, Vol. 32, 2000, pp. 925-946.

Assessing Japanese Environmental Aid to China

Conservation, sustainability and poverty alleviation in China: the role of Japanese environmental ODA in China's development.

Little academic work has been completed documenting and analyzing the patterns of aid to China since the "open door" policy began in 1978. This project will be a detailed analysis of Japanese ODA programs in China, focused on assessing the efficacy of environmental projects in particular. While the first objective of this project is to survey the patterns of Japanese environmental ODA to China (types of aid, donor motives and spatial and sectoral allocation), the data collected will be used in meeting the second objective—to assess the impact of this aid through an evaluation of key projects, particularly as this relates to environmental concerns. This will enable an assessment of the role of international aid (in this case Japan's ODA) in national development, as well as policy formation and implementation. Furthermore, by assessing key projects, this research will provide an independent assessment, with policy recommendations, to feed back into the contemporary discussion in Japan on the relative success of Japanese ODA in achieving stated goals. Thus, this research project makes advances within and between the fields of policy analysis, human geography (economic, political, environmental), and international relations.