Active Learning Beyond Borders? Interrogating the Diffusion of Development Cooperation Norms from Japan to China and Beyond

Abstract

AbstractBased on the illustrative case study of Japan-China development cooperation, this chapter offers two novel insights into norm diffusion theory and foreign aid practices. Theoretically, it challenges conventional models of norm diffusion and proposes an alternative, bottom-up diffusion model based on policy learning. Empirically, it challenges the common view that China’s “predatory” aid policy is an outgrowth of its domestic authoritarianism. Instead, this chapter suggests that China’s contemporary aid policy can be better understood as a diffused version of Japan’s aid policy which emphasizes the norms of mutual benefits, self-reliance, and sovereign rights. As an emerging donor, China replicates its own experience of development cooperation with Japan. This chapter advances such an argument in five parts. Following the introduction, the second section articulates the core norms of Japan’s development cooperation policy, which has played a key role in China’s meteoric rise since the 1980s. The third section highlights the congruence between development cooperation policies conducted by Japan and China. Building on these insights, the fourth section discusses how the Japanese model of state-led development assistance has diffused to China, and how this diffusion process has (re)shaped Beijing’s contemporary aid practices. The final section concludes with suggestions for further research.