AIIB (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank) news

[TaiShang]

China's AIIB Boom Shows US Influence Over Allies Has Limits
01.04.2015


The fact that America's longstanding allies rushed to join China's Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), despite Washington's efforts to discourage them, clearly indicates that the US' influence over its allies has limits, Greg Moore noted.

47 Countries to Join China-Led Development Bank

A continued Washington policy aimed at isolating Beijing over the AIIB has only served to isolate the United States, noted Greg Moore, an Associate Professor of International Relations at the School of Public Affairs at Zhejiang University (Hangzhou, China), urging Washington to sign on to the AIIB as a founding member.

The expert emphasized the fact that US’ longstanding allies rushed to join China's AIIB despite open displeasure expressed by Washington. It has clearly demonstrated that the US’ influence over its allies has limits, Mr. Moore remarked.

"It is clear the US policy of attempting to isolate the Chinese in their establishment of the bank, and to encourage US allies not to join, has failed, and it appears certain that the bank will move forward with or without the United States' blessing," the expert noted. However, according to Greg Moore, the US should grab the chance to join China's AIIB itself.

A decision to sign on to the AIIB would allow Washington to cooperate with its allies, shaping the new institution and holding it accountable to "global standards," the expert stressed, adding that the US"would truly look like a stick in the mud by staying out."

Moreover, by ignoring the China-led bank, the US risks damaging relations with Beijing, Greg Moore noted. Washington would obtain better leverage by being "in the bank" than by staying "outside it," he said.

However, citing prominent American experts Jacob Joseph "Jack" Lew and Daniel Drezner, Greg Moore pointed out that the United States should have bolstered reforming of the Bretton Woods monetary management system earlier: in that case maybe there would have been no market for the AIIB, or at least less support for its launching.

China's Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is an international financial institution. The AIIB initiative had been announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in October 2013, during a series of visits to Southeast Asian countries.

Aimed to promote 'interconnectivity and economic integration in the region' the bank has already brought together around 47 countries.

The UK, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, South Korea have announced their plans to join the Beijing initiative. Many international experts consider the bank a potential competitor to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.



Read more: China's AIIB Boom Shows US Influence Over Allies Has Limits / Sputnik International

 

[TaiShang]

Japan likely to break ranks with US over AIIB membership in end
2015-4-1

As of Tuesday, the application deadline for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), 48 countries and regions in five continents have applied for membership, 30 of which have been appointed as prospective founding members. This financial institution seems to have earned a worldwide support even before it is officially established. However, the AIIB's popularity has caused embarrassment to the US and Japan, who have awkwardly discovered that they are the last holdouts among the major economies.

If there is any epigram to characterize what Washington and Tokyo have gone through in the past few weeks, it is Murphy's Law - anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. It seems suitable to describe how the US-led front, which aims at a Western unified passive resistance against the AIIB, has been breached from inside, as the UK, US' most loyal ally, decided to fulfill a pragmatic vision in mid-March by joining the AIIB. Sooner than expected, the front collapsed.

When the deadline approached, Japan also wavered. According to the Financial Times, Japanese Ambassador to China Masato Kitera told the newspaper that Japan would seek membership in the AIIB by June. However, the statement was soon denied by Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida, and the country's Finance Minister Taro Aso reaffirmed that Japan remains cautious about the prospect of the institution.

Contradictory statements from high-ranking government officials only demonstrate Japan's ambivalence. When the AIIB was proposed, Tokyo, abreast of Washington, thought the institution would only be a joke if major economies give it the cold shoulder. Japan is concerned that the AIIB, if successful, would pose a great challenge to the Japan-led Asian Development Bank (ADB).

However, the dramatic changes in the past two weeks are pushing Japan to have second thoughts: On the one hand, it is unwilling to join the rivaling bank as a reinforcement, even at the cost of losing the status as a founding member; On the other hand, it has been aware that since the "foe" cannot be defeated, it might as well join it, or Japan will only risk being marginalized.

Sandwiched between strong calls at home for joining the AIIB and the US pressure of not to join, Japan is trying to adjust its strategy. Tokyo has released nebulous signals to show it won't reject being part of the new bank, but it also has to parrot what the US keeps saying. It won't make a decision until the AIIB presents to the world a desirable architecture, especially a transparent decision-making mechanism.

The total number of founding members will be confirmed on April 15, and a final meeting before the AIIB's establishment will be convened in May, so Japan's attitude may be variable in the next one or two months. Japan will keep an eye on the preparatory work of the AIIB, and meanwhile struggle to keep pace with the US.

Its strong desire to reinvigorate its economy by transferring infrastructure capacity will make it realize that the AIIB could be a massive catalyst to its endeavor.

But it has to share a consistent stance with the US because when the revision of the Guidelines for US-Japan Defense Cooperation arrives, Japan wants to trade its holdout in the AIIB for the explicit inclusion of the Diaoyu Islands in a new treaty.

However, there has already been bad blood between Tokyo and Washington. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's nationalist shift has caused quite a few inconveniences to the US, which is worried about losing its tight grip on Japan.

UK's "turning back" has set an example to Japan that in the face of real interests, pragmatism will prevail. After weighing and balancing, Japan will be likely to break ranks with the US, especially when it realizes that Asia's massive need for infrastructure and capital is way beyond what the AIIB and ADB can offer even combined. In this sense, the AIIB will be more of a partner to the ADB instead of a competitor.

@Nihonjin1051

 

[ahojunk]

China's new development bank is becoming a massive embarrassment for Obama | Business Insider

China's new development bank is becoming a massive embarrassment for Obama
Mike Bird Apr 1, 2015, 9:43 AM

China’s new development bank, which was announced just five months ago, is becoming a massive headache for the US.

Try as it might, the US government can’t convince its allies to stop joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

The bank will be a bit like the World Bank, providing loans to developing countries in Asia for infrastructure projects.

Unlike the World Bank, China will hold the reins of the AIIB. The US administration is publicly worried that the institution won’t meet high governance standards, but really seems opposed to the move because it signals a growing Chinese influence in the region, and in global politics.

The US has already endured a series of embarrassments over the bank. It might have been expected that some of the European countries with a cooler relationship with the US would join (which they did). India and Singapore were quick to sign up despite having decent relationships with the US.

But a series of much more embarrassing countries have started to join, leaving the US pretty much totally isolated in its position.

The UK came first. Britain is one of America’s closest allies, but the government has been pursuing an unashamedly warmer relationship with China for several years and was one of the first countries to say it wanted a role in the AIIB.

The front page of the Financial Times the next day, in which anonymous White House sources attacked the British government for “constant accommodation” of China, might have been intended as a warning to others, but it doesn’t seem to have worked.

The embarrassment didn’t end there: South Korea has applied, and America’s other major allies in the region, Japan and Australia, have been warming to the idea of joining.

However, Tuesday brought the most embarrassing event of all. Taiwan, which has no formal relationship with mainland China, is a former enemy of China, and basically only survived the 20th century with its independence because of the assistance of the United States, applied to join the AIIB.

The infrastructure bank isn’t going to be a massive boom for the UK economy, or even for nearer nations like Japan, neither is the US going to do anything to retaliate. The point is that they’re willing to take a very modest improvement in economic and political ties with China in exchange for a small deterioration in ties with the United States. Pretty much every country has decided that this is the right move.

The AIIB is a part of the wider “new Silk Road” initiative by China to deepen trade and investment both in the rest of Asia and the wider world. According to Barclays, it could actually be a positive thing for the region’s stability:

We believe through the building of interdependent relationships based on shared economic interests, this New Silk Road plan should deepen political linkages, improve mutual understanding and foster long-term stability in the region. The agreement to set up the AIIB by countries that have territorial disputes with China suggests potentially lower geopolitical risks and lower probability for military conflicts, in our view.

But the move goes beyond that — it’s a major PR push for China, which the American administration has positioned itself on exactly the wrong side of. So far, that strategy is failing spectacularly for the US.

 

[Yizhi]

AIIB Wechat version.

sorry it's all Chinese.

亚投行“朋友圈”扩至52个 “微信群”里真热闹_国际新闻_环球网

LOL .

 

[killerbee1]

Check how much voting right India and China have in IMF and World Bank.

AIIB is for improve the infrastructure of China and other countries, many companies also can benefit from these, promot the economy, of course, also push internationalization of RMB, join it or not, you decision.

We are not that idiotic think these USA allies that join will become against USA, we just want do business for more money, that's all.

Thank you for you concern on our pollution, we will, we have encough money for it, not less than indian, of course, we have much spare money for our "fanciful" projects, Chinese also have dream, the difference is that, we are working hard for it, and make it true, not just a dream, so Let's dream together.

You said you will buy more in IMF and World Bank, of course, you can, we don't stop you, that's your choice, so, back to working, you should earn more money for it, for your this dream.

just ignore that retard.

 

[DoTell]

China's AIIB Boom Shows US Influence Over Allies Has Limits
01.04.2015


The fact that America's longstanding allies rushed to join China's Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), despite Washington's efforts to discourage them, clearly indicates that the US' influence over its allies has limits, Greg Moore noted.

47 Countries to Join China-Led Development Bank

A continued Washington policy aimed at isolating Beijing over the AIIB has only served to isolate the United States, noted Greg Moore, an Associate Professor of International Relations at the School of Public Affairs at Zhejiang University (Hangzhou, China), urging Washington to sign on to the AIIB as a founding member.

The expert emphasized the fact that US’ longstanding allies rushed to join China's AIIB despite open displeasure expressed by Washington. It has clearly demonstrated that the US’ influence over its allies has limits, Mr. Moore remarked.

"It is clear the US policy of attempting to isolate the Chinese in their establishment of the bank, and to encourage US allies not to join, has failed, and it appears certain that the bank will move forward with or without the United States' blessing," the expert noted. However, according to Greg Moore, the US should grab the chance to join China's AIIB itself.

A decision to sign on to the AIIB would allow Washington to cooperate with its allies, shaping the new institution and holding it accountable to "global standards," the expert stressed, adding that the US"would truly look like a stick in the mud by staying out."

Moreover, by ignoring the China-led bank, the US risks damaging relations with Beijing, Greg Moore noted. Washington would obtain better leverage by being "in the bank" than by staying "outside it," he said.

However, citing prominent American experts Jacob Joseph "Jack" Lew and Daniel Drezner, Greg Moore pointed out that the United States should have bolstered reforming of the Bretton Woods monetary management system earlier: in that case maybe there would have been no market for the AIIB, or at least less support for its launching.

China's Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is an international financial institution. The AIIB initiative had been announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in October 2013, during a series of visits to Southeast Asian countries.

Aimed to promote 'interconnectivity and economic integration in the region' the bank has already brought together around 47 countries.

The UK, Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, South Korea have announced their plans to join the Beijing initiative. Many international experts consider the bank a potential competitor to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.



Read more: China's AIIB Boom Shows US Influence Over Allies Has Limits / Sputnik International

 

[frequency]

AIIB is a smart move to regulate the dollars. Good move. But China still need to learn some respect.

 

[Aepsilons]

One cannot be too quick to dismiss Japan's efforts in considering the AIIB, as it is evident that the Keidenren (Federation of Business Leaders) have shown interest, as with the ADB leaders, in cooperating with the AIIB in past talks. For a long time, observers expected AIIB to be a competitor to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the more established bank primarily backed by the U.S. and Japan. The banks would not “compete” in economic terms, as neither of them alone or even working together could finance all of Asia’s infrastructure needs, but there is a sense that the AIIB’s lower standards could undercut local goals that ADB’s more stringent conditions promote. However, on Wednesday, ADP President Takehiko Nakao said that ADB is willing to co-finance projects with AIIB if the latter meets the former’s standards for loans.

The official reason China created the AIIB is because of the massive funding gap for infrastructure projects in Asia. ADB estimates that the gap to be $8 trillion between 2010 and 2020. The ADB has a capital base of around $160 billion and the World Bank $223 billion. AIIB’s starting capital of $50 billion will not solve all the problems, but will be a help make a difference. AIIB will exclusively focus on infrastructure, while ADB and World Bank loans have a wider range of projects, such as those that support environmental protection and gender equality.

There is no reason why the AIIB and the ADB as well as the WB cannot work together, afterall, competition drives excellence and qualitative processes.

Even if Japan is not a founding member, it is inevetible that it will be a member. @TaiShang .



Reference:

ADB chief says could undertake co-financing with AIIB| Reuters

The Economist explains: Why China is creating a new "World Bank" for Asia | The Economist

 

[ahojunk]

I am surprised that Hungary has applied to join AIIB.
Don't think it is a donor country, so is it interested in getting loans?
Don't think it qualifies as it is not an Asian country.

-------------------------------------
Hungary to join China-backed AIIB investment bank - PM Orban| Reuters

Hungary to join China-backed AIIB investment bank - PM Orban
ASTANA, April 1

(Reuters) - Hungary has decided to join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday.

More than 40 countries, including Australia, South Korea, Britain, France, Germany and Italy, have said they would sign up to the AIIB, with Japan and the United States the two notable absentees.

"I would like to announce here that we will join the Asian international development bank," Orban, referring to the AIIB, told a news briefing during a visit to Kazakhstan.

"We will follow the example of Kazakhstan," he added, giving no further details.

China set a March 31 deadline to become a founding member of the AIIB, an institution that could enhance Beijing's regional and global influence.

Washington initially tried to dissuade its allies from joining the AIIB, seeing it as a challenge to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank over which the U.S. exerts considerable influence, but changed tack after many signed up for it. (Reporting by Raushan Nurshayeva; Additional reporting by Krisztina Than in Budapest; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Alison Williams)

 

[mike2000]

US and Europe (mainly) were dominant much before WW2 (for 300 yrs). Post WW2 Europe accepted and welcomed US dominance so as to retain the west's status.

Asia has no interest in seeing China as its poster-child.

Call it divide and rule or whatever but Asians have not reached the metal maturity that is required to be the dominant race in the world. Individually maybe but not collectively.

May happen down the road but not yet!

Exactly, couldnt have said it better. I said the same thing a while ago on here, it was on a threat where some Chinese and Indians where trying to play victim of being bullied/look down on/ rcaism by the 'west' against poor 'Asians.lool I said the same thing, that Asians themselves hate/are intolerant/racists/resentful of themselves than anything the west has towards them. In fact we are the most tolerant/opened society in the world(after Africans). Asians have too much ego among themselves and will rather see a western country or the U.S remain the dominat power of their region than their 'fellow Asian brother/neighbour'.loool This is a simple fact. So we dont need to do much to play divide and rule at all. They are doing it VERY WELL by themself. We can just give a little helping hand once in a while......ahahahahahah

So in short, their BIGGEST ennemy is they themselves.

 

[ahojunk]

Javier Solana is a Spanish physicist and politician. He was the Secretary General of NATO (1995–1999), he was appointed the European Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Secretary General of the Council of the European Union and Secretary-General of the Western European Union and held these posts from October 1999 until December 2009.

He has an impressive resume and experience; he knows what he is talking about.

The following article was reported in Arab News, perhaps the Arabs also concur.

---------------------------------------------------
China’s role in global governance | Arab News

China’s role in global governance
Javier Solana
Published — Thursday 2 April 2015

It is safe to say that the most consequential geostrategic development of the last two decades has been China’s rise. Yet the West has failed to accord China — not to mention the other major emerging economies — the degree of influence in today’s global governance structures that it merits. This may be about to change.

As it stands, China relies on bilateral arrangements to deepen its involvement in countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Backed by $3.8 trillion in currency reserves, China has provided infrastructure investment in exchange for commodities, thereby becoming the world’s largest provider of financing for developing countries, with the China Development Bank already offering more loans than the World Bank.

But, given that these bilateral arrangements are executed by state-owned corporations, they often do not adhere to international best practices. The West has therefore urged China to move toward multilateral processes that meet international standards, while doing more to provide global public goods. US President Barack Obama has gone so far as to call China a “free rider” for its failure to fulfill the responsibilities that many would expect of a global power.

But, if Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent foreign-policy initiatives are any indication, change may be imminent. Last July, China led the establishment of the New Development Bank by the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and contributed significantly to its $100 billion endowment.

Likewise, at the latest Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Beijing, China spearheaded the creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). And it has established a $40 billion Silk Road Fund, to support its ambitions to re-create the ancient overland and maritime routes connecting Asia to Europe.

In implementing its so-called “one belt, one road” strategy, China will pursue investments affecting some 60 countries –—including in Central Asia, where its portfolio already contains projects worth more than $50 billion. The maritime route will include the Indian Ocean, the South China Sea, and the Mediterranean. Together, they will form not just a road, but a network to facilitate the transfer of goods and ideas across Eurasia.

Europe’s role in this initiative is already emerging with the Greek port of Piraeus, operated partly by the Chinese state-owned naval company COSCO, set to be a stop on the maritime route. The Piraeus port will be connected to the rest of Europe by Chinese-financed infrastructure in the Balkans and Hungary, consolidating China’s position as the EU’s main commercial partner.

The New Silk Road initiative reaffirms China’s desire to establish itself as a Eurasian power. Not only will it connect the dynamic economic hubs of East Asia and Western Europe; it will also open access to Central Asian countries, where Russia’s influence is in decline. It could also help to ease territorial tensions between China and its immediate neighbors.

So far, China’s efforts to increase its influence seem to be working — and not just in the developing world. The United Kingdom recently announced its intention to serve as a founding member of the AIIB, triggering a flood of applications from the likes of Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Korea, Russia, Turkey, and Spain.

In the US, however, such developments are perceived as geopolitical setbacks. This interpretation is fundamentally flawed. After all, China’s decision to bypass the main international financial institutions, which were created in the aftermath of WWII, has been driven by the refusal of the developed countries that lead them to give it a role commensurate with its economic might.

At the Asian Development Bank, for example, Japan and the US each claim around 13 percent of the votes, compared to less than 6 percent for China, and the president is always Japanese.

The fact is that China’s new initiatives are not revisionist, but reactive. If new powers are not given access to the existing global governance structures, they will create structures of their own. This means that the advanced countries have the power to prevent the international order’s fragmentation into ideological and economic blocs — but only if they can overcome their strategic mistrust of China.

The West must still do more not only to welcome China to the table of global governance, but also to accept and cooperate with the institutions that the Chinese are now creating. Only with an open attitude can western leaders ensure that Chinese-led institutions adopt best practices of multi-lateralism and accountability, and that they adhere to international labor and environmental standards. Now is the ideal time to initiate this process. If the EU, the US, and China take this year to align their intentions, based on their shared interests, they will be prepared to make the most of the G-20 summit in China in 2016.

 

[liubang]

Israel is silly. Don't even bother to listen to the us over aiib and yet dare to go on to USA congress to interfere with diplomacy with Iran.

 

[ahojunk]

Ann Pettifor: Failure of IMF key to understanding AIIB’s rise

Ann Pettifor of Prime Economics argues China is the latest victim of the Washington consensus

Economist speaks to World Finance about how historically entrenched bias within the IMF towards Asia could be corrected by the AIIB.

 

[Jlaw]

Joke Bank, Joke News. China will burn a lot of money for little return, that is the real news.

i somewhat agree with you. any big scale projects that has indian participation is bound to fail. Ie. BRICS bank anyone?

 

[ahojunk]

.

Dr. Malmgren: US needs China-backed AIIB infrastructure investment the most

Former White House official discusses the situation the AIIB poses to the US and Western-backed global financial institutions

World Finance speaks to Dr Pippa Malmgren, author of, Signals: The breakdown of the social contract and the rise of geopolitics about how China will spread its influence globally by investing in global infrastructure projects.