The Obama administration accused the UK of a “constant accommodation” of China after Britain decided to join a new China-led financial institution that could rival the World Bank.The rare rebuke of one of the US’s closest allies came as Britain prepared to announce that it will become a founding member of the $50bn Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, making it the first country in the G7 group of leading economies to join an institution launched by China last October.Thursday’s reprimand was a rare breach in the “special relationship” that has been a backbone of western policy for decades. It also underlined US concerns over China’s efforts to establish a new generation of international development banks that could challenge Washington-based global institutions. The US has been lobbying other allies not to join the AIIB.
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The AIIB — what is it?

The Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank is one of four institutions created or proposed by Beijing in what some see as an attempt to create a Sino-centric financial system to rival western dominated institutions set up after the second world war. The other institutions are: the New Development Bank, better known as the Brics bank, and a contingent reserve arrangement, seen as alternatives to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund; a proposed Development Bank of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, a six-country Eurasian political, economic and military grouping dominated by China and Russia.

What is it for?

The AIIB offers an alternative to the Asian Development Bank, which focuses on poverty relief and lacks the firepower to undertake the large-scale infrastructure projects that are the remit of the AIIB.

What’s wrong with that?

In principle, nothing. But the ADB and the AIIB are seen as rival, rather than complementary organisations. The ADB was established in 1966 and now has 67 members including 48 from Asia and the Pacific. But it is seen by many in the region as overly dominated by Japan and the US, which are by far its biggest shareholders with holdings of 15.7 per cent and 15.6 per cent respectively, compared with China’s 5.5 per cent. The AIIB was founded last year with 21 members. Notably absent were the US, Japan, Australia and South Korea. The US, it is said, lobbied countries not to join, while China worked hard to get them in.

Does that matter?

Both sides clearly think it does. Proponents of the AIIB criticise the ADB for being overly bureaucratic. The AIIB’s critics say the new lender will play fast and loose with conditionality and other restrictions on the behaviour of borrowers, allowing corruption to flourish. More significant, however, are strategic considerations. The US and China are increasingly engaged in a struggle for regional influence, played out through institutions such as these.

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