China and Japan should cooperate on infrastructure, not compete

Managing that challenge will top to-do list of Asian Development Bank's new Japanese chief

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China has been challenging Japan for influence through initiatives such as the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank the trillion-dollar Belt and Road infrastructure initiative. © Getty Images

HENNY SENDER, Nikkei Asian Review columnist

Come April, China's President Xi Jinping will travel to Japan in an official visit that is likely to include a meeting with Emperor Naruhito, almost a year after he inherited the chrysanthemum throne his grandfather occupied during the war with China.

That planned meeting in Tokyo has given rise to a new round of angst and debate in Japan about the future of relations with their giant neighbor as China continues to make inroads in what used to be the Japanese sphere of influence: Southeast Asia and, to a lesser extent, India and Central Asia.

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