Canada has halted all interactions with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), led by China, as it investigates allegations of the bank being controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, according to Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s statement.
Freeland did not dismiss the possibility that Canada could withdraw from the bank, which it officially became a member of in March 2018.
The AIIB’s global communications director, who is Canadian, resigned on Wednesday, criticizing the bank for being under the Communist Party’s influence. The AIIB rejected these allegations as unfounded and disappointing.
Freeland informed reporters that the Canadian government would immediately cease all state-led activities at the bank and ordered the Department of Finance to promptly review the raised allegations and Canada’s involvement in the AIIB.
She stated that as democracies globally strive to minimize their strategic vulnerabilities to authoritarian regimes, it’s crucial to understand how these governments exert their influence.
“I am not ruling out any outcome following the completion of the review I am announcing today,” she added.
When asked for a comment, the Chinese embassy in Ottawa denied the allegations, describing the claim that ‘AIIB is controlled by the Communist Party of China’ as a blatant lie.
The Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in office when Canada joined the AIIB. The opposition Conservatives have consistently urged Ottawa to withdraw from the bank, asserting that it is a mechanism for Beijing to spread authoritarianism across the Pacific.
