A Canadian executive of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) resigned on June 14 while accusing the Chinese communist regime of manipulating AIIB and creating a toxic culture.
Experts pointed out that the incident has again revealed China’s ruling Communist Party’s (CCP) infiltration in international financial organizations, which should serve as another warning to the free world.
The Beijing-based AIIB, established by the CCP, began operations in 2016 to finance railways and other infrastructure in Asian countries. The bank’s leadership claims that it has no political leanings and is not influenced by political disputes.
However, Canadian Bob Pickard, the director of global communications at the AIIB, posted to Twitter on June 14 that he had resigned, revealing that the AIIB has been dominated by CCP members.
“The [CCP] runs the joint, but that’s not transparent. It’s only after working there for many months that I became aware of how that’s where the true power is concentrated inside the bank—the CCP crowd who operate like a secret police,” Pickard wrote.
“The Communist Party hacks hold the cards at the Bank. They deal with some board members as useful idiots,” he said in another post. “I believe that my Government should not be a member of this PRC instrument. The reality of power in the bank is that it’s CCP from start to finish.”
Hours later, the Canadian government said it would investigate the allegations and freeze ties with the AIIB.
Export CCP Party Culture, Ideology
Song Guocheng, a researcher at the International Relations Center of National Chengchi University in Taiwan, told The Epoch Times on June 15 that the AIIB is an international financing bank used by the CCP to support its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has an aim to extend the CCP’s influence in other countries through infrastructure investments.
Pickard’s resignation and revelation reflect that leaders in democratic systems of governance have no way to work compatibly with the CCP’s bureaucracy, corruption, and selfish goals.
“There is no way for him to continue to collude with them [CCP], and resignation is a moral choice,” Song said in response to Pickard’s resignation.
Song believes this is not an isolated incident, as the CCP has been receiving pushback to its efforts to spread its Marxist-inspired culture and ideology all over the world.
Masao Sun, an associate professor at the Department of International Affairs and Entrepreneurship at Nanhua University in Taiwan, told The Epoch Times on June 15 that the situation disclosed by the Canadian executive confirmed CCP critics’ doubts regarding some international organizations led by China’s ruling party. But what also revealed the extent of the CCP’s push for power and influence on the world stage.
“Our original assumption was that the AIIB would serve China’s own national interests, or mainly serve BRI. We didn’t think that the CCP would impose the Party’s will within an international organization, which is unheard of,” Song said.
Huang Shicong, a Taiwanese financial expert, told The Epoch Times on June 15 that the outside world knows the purpose of the establishment of the AIIB, but there is no way to know its internal operations.
This time, the Canadian executive publicly revealed the internal situation, confirming the outside world’s original doubts.
“It’s that the CCP has ulterior motives in these organizations, and the CCP is actually leading it,” Huang said.
Influencing Other Countries, Organizations
Sun said that the AIIB claims that its purpose is to assist developing countries in financing their infrastructure development.
“This will cause another problem, that is: when it lends money to the developing countries, will these countries also be influenced by the toxic CCP culture inside the AIIB?”
Sun added, “From this incident, it can be inferred that the BRI promoted by the CCP around the world may export not only the debt crisis we have seen, but also the party culture of the CCP—the culture of not adhering to the international order but dominated by the rules defined by the CCP.”
Sun warned that the United States and the free world must think more carefully about what the CCP is doing and find a comprehensive way to deal with it.
Pickard’s allegations were denied by the AIIB. The Chinese embassy in Canada called the remarks lies.
Fearing retaliation by the CCP after his post, Pickard immediately fled from mainland China to Japan. He posted a photo of Tokyo to Twitter, saying: “So happy to be back in the free world.”
Huang said that this incident may lead to the departure of more international employees in other semi-official organizations that cooperate with China.
“Foreigners who work in China or in Chinese organizations should be very careful in the future,” he said.
Sun believes that in the future, Western executives who join the AIIB may be vetted by the CCP.
“The BRICS development banks that the CCP participates in or leads may have similar situations,” he added.
Ning Haizhong and Luo Ya contributed to this report.
From The Epoch Times