Japanese Foreign Minister Yohei Kono raised concern over the ships when he met Chinese counterpart Tang Jiaxuan last month. Japan had planned to pledge the loans when Kono visits China from August 28 to 31, but a Japanese government official said it was not clear if Tokyo would go ahead with the plan. Japan set aside 600 billion yen for soft loans to crisis-hit Asian countries for the three years to March 2002, from which Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines have so far benefited. China's deep in debt and has no intention of ever paying anyone back. Come try to collect.
Storm clouds are on the horizon.
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