Taiwan has applied to join Beijing’s newly created Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, in a test of how China’s political priorities will influence the new bank’s operations.
China, which views Taiwan as a renegade province, has limited its membership in many regional and international groupings, including the World Health Organisation.
Several European countries have already applied to join the AIIB, in spite of US efforts to persuade them otherwise, since the UK broke ranks with America on the issue earlier in March.
Japan’s ambassador to Beijing told the Financial Times this week that his country would probably sign up to the development bank by June, leaving the US as the only large economy on the sidelines. South Korea and Australia, which along with Japan are key US allies in the region, have also said they would join.
Taiwan’s government decided to apply at a national security meeting of the presidential office on Monday night, according to presidential spokesman Charles I-hsin Chen. The decision comes just in time for the March 31 application deadline for countries to be considered founding members.
“Joining the AIIB would help our nation to fit into regional economic integration and enhance the opportunities for our nation to participate in international affairs, as well as boosting international business opportunities and enhancing our odds of joining other international trade groups in the future,” he said.
Taiwan’s ruling Kuomintang party suffered a resounding defeat in local elections late last year, in part because of a perception among young voters that the party’s links with Beijing had become too close, while it was ignoring growing inequality and rising living costs at home.
Trade between China and Taiwan is extensive and Taiwanese companies are some of the biggest investors in the mainland. But Beijing has never given up the threat of invading Taiwan to gain control, even during a period of improved ties under Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou and China’s former president, Hu Jintao.
Taiwan is the sixth-largest economy in east Asia and has been a member of the Manila-based Asian Development Bank, which is heavily influenced by Japan, since 1966. It was forced to change the name under which it belonged to the ADB from the formal “Republic of China” to “Taipei, China” after the People’s Republic joined the regional bank in 1986.
Even the act of applying to the AIIB demonstrates Taiwan’s different status. China’s Ministry of Finance has announced other countries’ applications but Taiwan will route its application through Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office. The office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
Visiting Beijing on Monday, US Treasury secretary Jack Lew said Washington remained open to co-operating with the AIIB.
Link : http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/58615682-d75f-11e4-93cb-00144feab7de.html#ixzz3W773yzAP
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