Is Canada meddling in development bank's affairs?

Bob Pickard, a Canadian national and former officer of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, claimed recently that he found the bank to be "dominated by Communist Party hacks", and so he decided to resign and "high-tailed it out of (China) as soon as possible".

Pickard based his claims on the mere fact that there are many Communist Party of China members in the bank, according to his own public comments. It only proves how ignorant he is of China and how politically motivated his remarks were.

The bank's headquarters is in China, so it is natural that many of the bank's employees should be Chinese, and natural as well that they should be Party members, for, as Pickard should know, the CPC has nearly 100 million members.

Pickard, if not ignorant, was imprudent about where he picked up a salary when he joined the bank merely 15 months ago.

"Mr Pickard's recent public comments and characterization of the bank are baseless and disappointing," the AIIB said, adding that it had "supported and empowered him" during his tenure.

This unhappy gentleman seems experienced and should be responsible, but instead he has behaved irresponsibly and unprofessionally with his betrayal of his employer.

One has to wonder why he decided to join the bank in the first place. And, unless he were fleeing with internal documents of the bank, he should not have worried about being detained, as he so publicly claimed to fear.

It is notable that without missing a beat, Chrystia Freeland, Canada's deputy prime minister and minister of finance, who is also Canada's representative on the bank's board of governors, immediately vowed a probe into Pickard's allegations and threatened to take action against the bank, if it judged them to be founded.

The Canadian government has become an almost blind follower of Washington's China policy. With a new president of the bank due to be elected in 2025, is Canada emulating and acting as the hatchet man for Washington, which accused Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, of bias in favor of China in 2021?

In the bank's charter, its 106 members, including Canada, agree that they will respect the bank's international character and "refrain from any attempt to influence" or intervene in the bank's affairs. Yet that is what Canada appears to be doing. To be clear, the identification of CPC membership among bank officials is an issue that is distinct from the allegation that the CPC controls the bank.

Freeland has threatened to "immediately halt all government led activity at the bank". If that is the case, Canada will fail to fulfill its obligations to the bank. The bank could respond by moving to suspend Canada's membership. Canada could be kicked out of the bank after a one-year suspension.

Freeland added that the investigation would be expeditious and said, "I am not ruling out any outcome following its completion" — which could indicate a voluntary withdrawal by Canada.

Loss of membership, be it compulsory or voluntary, does not serve either Canada's or the AIIB's interests, or the countries that the bank is providing assistance to.

The author is an associate professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University and a China Forum expert. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.