The leaders of Japan and five Southeast Asian countries that share the Mekong River on Tuesday agreed to adopt a new policy that pushes forward more than 150 projects in the Mekong region, using official development assistance from Japan, Nikkei Asian Review reports. With the Tokyo Strategy 2018 for Mekong-Japan Cooperation, Japan also appears to be trying to expand its economic foothold in the region to counter China’s growing influence as the gathering leaders hailed the importance of maintaining the rules-based order and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. Lucrative infrastructure projects in East Asia are underway in an attempt to bring the region closer together, but the contest between China and Japan for leadership in the infrastructure sector might derail that process.