US opposition to China-backed AIIB is pointless

THE China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) hasn't opened its doors for business yet, but already it has strained relations between the United States and its closest ally, the United Kingdom, which shocked Washington by announcing that it had applied to become a founding member, the first Western country to do so. The US, which has opposed the AIIB since it was first mooted in 2013, was extremely unhappy with the British decision. The Financial Times quoted one American official as saying: "We are wary about a trend toward constant accommodation of China."

The idea of an Asian infrastructure bank was first publicly raised by President Xi Jinping when he visited Indonesia in October 2013. American opposition ostensibly is not to the concept of such a bank, but rather out of concern that it would not adopt sufficiently high standards of governance as well as environmental and social safeguards.

The need for Asian infrastructure financing is undisputed, with Jim Yong Kim, the American who heads the World Bank, putting it at US$1 trillion a year - a need that is largely unmet at present. Mr Kim has welcomed the appearance of the AIIB and has said that he is willing to work with any new organisation.