One More Question: Will the U.S. join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank?

Global Business

C. Fred Bergsten, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute and a former senior U.S. Treasury official

CCTV America’s Gao Qi interviewed Fred Bergsten, the senior fellow at the Peterson Institute and a former senior U.S. Treasury official. CCTV America asked Bergsten one more question about whether the United States should join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, an alternative to the Asian Development Bank.

“I think the United States will ultimately and inevitably joint the AIIB. It would be very unusual in U.S. history not to participate in a major multilateral institution of this type. It may take a year or two for the United States to find a face-saving way to reverse its position and join the bank. And it even may have to wait for for our next administration in a couple of years, but I think it will happen,” Bergsten said.

Should U.S. join AIIB?

CCTV America’s Gao Qi interviewed Fred Bergsten, the senior fellow at the Peterson Institute and a former senior U.S. Treasury official, and asked this ONE MORE QUESTION: Should U.S. also join AIIB?

So far, Germany, France and Italy have followed the United Kingdom’s lead in announcing plans to join a new, $100 billion China-led development institution. The U.S. has expressed concern over the U.K.’s bid to become a founding member of a Chinese-backed development bank, saying it hopes the U.K. will use “its voice to push for adoption of high standards” according to a BBC report.

The AIIB is seen by many as an alternative to the Asian Development Bank, established in 1966 which now has 67 members including 48 from Asia and the Pacific. Many say the bank is overly dominated by Japan and the US, which are by far its biggest shareholders with 15.7 percent and 15.6 percent respectively (compared with China’s 5.5 per cent).


Read More News about AIIB on CCTV AMERICA: https://america.cgtn.com/?s=AIIB