A former Canadian executive claims that AIIB works for the Chinese Communist Party

An ex-executive made charges that led Canada to revoke its membership in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, claiming that China’s Communist Party runs the organization and exploits it to further its interests.

After leaving the bank this week, Bob Pickard, a former communications director, made the shocking claims. He told AFP that he had to leave China quickly due to fears for his safety.

He said, while speaking from Tokyo, that the bank “serves China’s interest” and that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had “undue” control over all of its activities.

It serves as a resource for the PRC’s (People’s Republic of China) geopolitical objectives. In reality, I think it benefits China,” he told AFP.

According to him, the bank prioritized loans to the nations included in China’s expansive and contentious Belt and Road Initiative.

The Belt and Road Initiative and the AIIB are related political nations that China has been attempting to promote, therefore they are not unrelated endeavors.

Pickard’s accusations were deemed “baseless and disappointing” by AIIB in a statement after his comments.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, responded to the allegations by stating that “the AIIB abides by the principles of openness, meritocracy, and transparency in employee hiring and management.”

The bank, according to Wang, employs individuals from 65 different nations and economies, and its accomplishments have “widely been acknowledged by the international community.”

The Chinese president Xi Jinping promoted the AIIB, which was established in 2016 to compete with Western hegemony over the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Among its 106 international members are Australia, Canada, France, and Germany.

However, the United States has opted to remain a non-member due to concerns about transparency and governance.

‘INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTION’

Pickard said that although he first joined the bank “with my eyes wide open,” his worldwide membership soon persuaded him that it would be multilateral.

Instead, he was told “not to mess with any of the party people… because they’re powerful” after joining in March 2022.

He refused to reveal the source of the warning, but he claimed to have written about his worries about the influence and role of party members a month before.

Don’t go there, was the general answer.

He said that the board’s foreign executives were just there for “window-dressing.”

“There’s a parallel system, it’s adjacent to the public-decision making structure,” he said, inside the bank.

Canada declares a review

The 58-year-old Canadian sent in his resignation earlier this week and then hurried out of China before making his choice and accusations public on Twitter.

Since a Huawei executive was detained in Vancouver in accordance with a US warrant in 2018, two Canadian citizens have been jailed in China in what seems to be retribution.

Pickard said that his decision to leave China after his resignation was influenced by the imprisonment of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.

“I remember what happened with the two Michaels, and after the nature of my resignation, I left for the airport as soon as I could,” he recalled.

“I departed in such haste that I left many of my possessions behind, including my wallet.”

Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s finance minister, said Ottawa will “immediately halt all government-led activity at the Bank” in response to his remarks.

A “immediate review of the allegations raised and Canada’s involvement in the AIIB” was also mandated by her.

Pickard expressed his satisfaction with the leadership of his nation for “taking seriously the issue of lack of transparency and undue CCP influence over what is supposed to be a multilateral organization.”

“I think the Canadian government will discover that this bank’s objectives eventually do not align with those of our nation.

Why does Canada participate in a group that ultimately strengthens China’s position?

Similar claims were made against the bank in the past, and in 2017, then-vice president Thierry de Longuemar reaffirmed his position that it was not a “instrument of the Chinese state.”

“China’s wish is to demonstrate its ability to promote a truly international institution based in China, not to create a new instrument of the Chinese state,” he added.