Canada expands probe of China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
- The government is also suspending its participation in the multilateral organisation indefinitely, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says
- AIIB communications chief Bob Pickard had resigned in June alleging that China’s ruling party pulls the strings at the bank
Canada is broadening a probe of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and freezing its participation in the multilateral organisation indefinitely, the government said on Friday.
Ottawa had temporarily suspended its involvement in the AIIB in June after a whistle-blower asserted that China’s ruling party pulls the strings at the bank.
The AIIB, a project pushed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, was launched in 2016 to counter Western dominance of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
It has 106 global members, including Australia, Canada, France and Germany.
“In consultation with some of our closest international partners, Canada is expanding its review of the AIIB,” Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a statement, adding that its participation in the bank would remain indefinitely suspended.