ority areas and issues and devoting due attention to China’s new development needs as well as to Japan’s severe economic and fiscal situation. In other words, the decision on whether or not a project is implemented depends on a detailed examination of each project, not merely on the previous track record. The greatest portion of assistance to China consists of yen loans (approximately ¥214.4 billion in fiscal year 2000). Grant aid, meanwhile, amounted to approximately ¥4.8 billion. Yen loans were previously pledged under a multiple-year commitment system, but they are now offered under a single-year commitment system according to the “long list” of candidate projects to enhance transparency.

Total yen loans to China in fiscal year 2001 reached ¥161.4 billion. This figure was determined in accordance with the goals of the Economic Cooperation Program for China and based on a careful and comprehensive review of Japan's fiscal situation, China's economic expansion and growing national strength, and the conforming of each project to the priorities identified by Japan. The total in fiscal year 2001 decreased by ¥53.0 billion from the preceding year—a reduction of 25%. Of the 15 projects approved, 7 were environment-related, and 13 were situated in China's interior.

Some, as noted previously, have criticized Japan’s ODA to China as being inconsistent with the principles of the ODA Charter in the light of the country’s large-scale increases in national defense spending in recent years, development of nuclear arms and missiles and weapons trade, and the status of efforts to promote democracy and protect human rights and freedoms. Japan will continue to keep close track of trends in China’s military spending and weapons trade and to pay due attention to democratization efforts and the protection of basic human rights and freedoms. Japan is also making the greatest possible effort to enhance China’s awareness and understanding of the ideas embodied in the principles of the ODA Charter. Japan is actively evaluating its ODA to China and, more specifically, is not merely reviewing individual projects but conducting timely and appropriate evaluation utilizing consistent standards from a comprehensive perspective. Based on the Economic Cooperation Program for China, the Japanese government intends to implement ODA to China in the future with full attention to the views of private citizens and in a manner that the Japanese public will understand and support. The government has also compiled and published country assistance programs for nine other nations: Bangladesh, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Peru, the Philippines, Tanzania, Thailand, and Viet Nam.

In addition, the government has formulated a series of sector- and theme-specific policy initiatives as a means of addressing such specific development issues as infectious diseases, environmental protection, and conflict prevention. At the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit in 2000 the government announced the Okinawa Infectious Diseases Initiative (IDI), an original Japanese plan to provide $3 billion in aid over a five-year period, as well as the Action from Japan on Conflicts and Development, which expressed Japan’s ideas on the proper course for development assistance aimed at preventing conflicts.

Thus, Japan’s ODA is implemented in accordance with the ODA Charter and based on such policy frameworks as the Medium-Term Policy on ODA, country assistance programs, and sector- and theme-specific policy initiatives. When assistance is provided to a developing country, each project is firmly positioned within the development plan for that country and within Japan’s nation- and sector-specific assistance plans. Every effort is made to ensure that assistance resources are invested effec-