Asia grows resistant to loyalty tests by US, China: ADB chief

WASHINGTON — Asian countries are increasingly pursuing “strategic independence,” avoiding taking a side in the U.S.-China rivalry as tariffs threaten to upend the region’s postwar economic order, Asian Development Bank President Masato Kanda told Nikkei.

Kanda, formerly Japan’s top currency diplomat, took over as head of the multilateral lender in February. Edited excerpts from the interview follow.