Xinhua, Washington :
The recent decision by major US allies in Europe to join the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) signals an “ebb of the US influence” in Asia, a US newspaper said Monday.
In an editorial, The Washington Post described as a “foreign policy setback” suffered by the Obama administration the decision by Germany, France and Italy last week to join Britain as shareholders of the AIIB, a new Chinese-sponsored multilateral development agency for Asia.
“The fact that four key European allies found it advantageous to join, despite US insistence, speaks volumes about the ebb and flow of American influence in a region toward which President Obama had promised to ‘pivot,'” said the editorial.
Following the Europeans’ moves, South Korea and Australia will likely feel compelled to join the AIIB, leaving the United States and Japan on the outside looking in, it said.
When China first proposed the AIIB in 2013, the US viewed it as a Chinese attempt to set up a rival to the US-led World Bank, with the goal of expanding Beijing’s influence across the region. Washington foresaw the negative consequence of a successful AIIB could be project funding ungoverned by the environmental and anti- corruption safeguards that World Bank borrowers must meet, the editorial noted.
The recent decision by major US allies in Europe to join the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) signals an “ebb of the US influence” in Asia, a US newspaper said Monday.
In an editorial, The Washington Post described as a “foreign policy setback” suffered by the Obama administration the decision by Germany, France and Italy last week to join Britain as shareholders of the AIIB, a new Chinese-sponsored multilateral development agency for Asia.
“The fact that four key European allies found it advantageous to join, despite US insistence, speaks volumes about the ebb and flow of American influence in a region toward which President Obama had promised to ‘pivot,'” said the editorial.
Following the Europeans’ moves, South Korea and Australia will likely feel compelled to join the AIIB, leaving the United States and Japan on the outside looking in, it said.
When China first proposed the AIIB in 2013, the US viewed it as a Chinese attempt to set up a rival to the US-led World Bank, with the goal of expanding Beijing’s influence across the region. Washington foresaw the negative consequence of a successful AIIB could be project funding ungoverned by the environmental and anti- corruption safeguards that World Bank borrowers must meet, the editorial noted.
