The Political Economy of Japanese and Chinese Infrastructure Financing Governance - (Spaces of Peace, Security and Development) by Trissia Wijaya

Book Synopsis

This book explores the political economy of Chinese and Japanese infrastructure financing in Indonesia, examining how Chinese and Japanese actors utilize diverse modes including Official Development Assistant (ODA), commercial loans, export credits, business-to-business (B-to-B) investments, and public-private partnerships (PPPs) to ensure profitability and manage risks.

Moving beyond traditional views of these financing modes as geoeconomic statecraft, the book exposes readers to a new perspective by situating infrastructure financing in the context of capitalist development. It reveals how contestation, conflicts, and compromise between socio-political forces including different segments of Japanese and Chinese capital, state actors, and civil society actors in Indonesia give shape to distinct modes of financing. Through detailed case studies and interviews across Japan, China and Indonesia, it uncovers the interplay between these forces and how their relations are sustained through regulatory complexes underpinning large-scale projects.

Review Quotes

'An ambitious, original, and insightful gem. Writing with theoretical rigor, historical complexity and analytical clarity, Wijaya explains the differences in regulatory politics involving Japanese and Chinese financing infrastructural projects in Indonesia. Her focus on the variations in transnational capitalist class interests, their conflicts and alliances with the host country's power elite effectively debunks facile assumptions about the national characters of foreign capital or the unitary interest of the nation states. A brilliant study of one of the most dynamic regions of the global south.' Ching Kwan Lee, University of California, Los Angeles and author of The Specter of Global China and Forever Hong Kong

'This book reveals how geostrategic ambitions collide with domestic politics, as large-scale infrastructure projects are planned, financed, and constructed - a must read that shows how geopolitical rivalry is reshaping our world.' Seth Schindler, University of Manchester

'This book makes a major contribution to our understanding of states and development. Articulating and successfully deploying the concept of "regulatory complexes," Trissia Wijaya takes us well beyond the important but routinized analyses of regulatory capture, providing a rich theoretical framework for analyzing the complex interactions between various actors involved in infrastructure financing. The book extends critical political economy perspectives, providing not only a compelling and detailed empirical analysis of the practices of Japanese and Chinese investors in Indonesia but a framework for thinking about states, transnational fractions of capital, finance, and development issues more generally. It will serve as an important reference for scholars working on these crucial issues.' Jim Glassman, University of British Columbia

'Scholars have recognized the significance of Asian donors in the 2000s, when many emerged as new players in international development. Today, we must shed new light on the role of Asian donors, such as China and Japan, as potential forces to supplement the United States' retreat from global affairs. This book serves as a valuable reference for navigating the increasingly uncertain landscape of infrastructure financing.' Jin Sato, University of Tokyo

About the Author