China Pivot: UK, Germany, France and other US allies rebuke pressure from Washington and join China-led bank. (universities, rail)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
UK's first mission to China is the Macartney Embassy in 1793 during the last years of Emperor Qianlong. Fascinating history (and lost opportunity for China).
sorry I meant to write 1840, start of the Opium War.
25: United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, Argentina, Belgium, United Arab Emirates, Colombia, Iran, South Africa, Israel, Chile, Ireland, Greece, Iraq, Algeria, Portugal, Venezuela, Peru, Romania, Czech Republic, Angola, Ukraine
well, Japan, Canada, Poland, Israel, Czech Republic, should anyone be surprised.
I wonder if their decision would be different if the US decides to join later. Canada will probably announce to join the second day, if not sooner, the US does, like it always does. And Israel? No words necessary I think.
Greece and Portugal missing is not surprising. They can't come up with the money required and are in no position to help building in Asia. Romania? It is just third world under the disguise of a European country and is probably too poor to chime in.
At least the UK wins back some respect showing it is not a total lackey. It actually means something more significant, that countries like the UK and Germany and Korea are now willing to mildly annoy the US for better economic prospects through working with China - it might also mean all the distrust by the US through all the hacking and surveillance is finally paying off.
Hey wait a sec - if we joined wouldn't that be considered "Anti-American" and having an inferiority complex
I think the decision should be based solely on economic benefits/business interest, just like the UK does. Instead of playing this "you are not a democracy therefore I don't want to play with you" kind of silly game Canada has been done for years. I fail to see why Canada can't see the investment opportunities lying in this and instead choose to be "loyal" to the US.
If the Canada-US relation cools because of this, so be it. Did Obama worry about that when reject the Keystone project?
After centuries, countries like the US and Canada are still not as savvy as the UK. One is too arrogant to accept its diminishing influence, the other just happy to be a little brother forever although the big bother doesn't take it that seriously. Both focus too much on stupid ideological difference that the UK is more than willing to ignore since 5 years ago.
I think the decision should be based solely on economic benefits/business interest, just like the UK does. Instead of playing this "you are not a democracy therefore I don't want to play with you" kind of silly game Canada has been done for years. I fail to see why Canada can't see the investment opportunities lying in this and instead choose to be "loyal" to the US.
If the Canada-US relation cools because of this, so be it. Did Obama worry about that when reject the Keystone project?
After centuries, countries like the US and Canada are still not as savvy as the UK. One is too arrogant to accept its diminishing influence, the other just happy to be a little brother forever although the big bother doesn't take it that seriously. Both focus too much on stupid ideological difference that the UK is more than willing to ignore since 5 years ago.
Botti I agree with you 100% on this! I was making joke in the context of what goes on in the Canada forums you know well..
As a matter of fact re Keystone this would be the perfect opportunity for the country to expand its horizons and grow up a little....
Botti I agree with you 100% on this! I was making joke in the context of what goes on in the Canada forums you know well..
As a matter of fact re Keystone this would be the perfect opportunity for the country to expand its horizons and grow up a little....
of course I got your joke.
Canada is known to have an inferiority complex precisely because its excessive focus on the US. It should really adjust its foreign policies and stop putting all the eggs in one basket. I don't see another rich country with one the world's largest GDP and highest living standard doing that.
You know in many posts Canadians argue that they don't have a Canadian accent, and that they speak just like Americans, as if talking in a different accent is a bad thing. I kept thinking, do the British hate their own distinct accent? What's so bad about having a Canadian accent, isn't it something worth celebrating? Since when American accent becomes the standard? That reminds me many years ago a Taiwanese roommate of mine telling me in all excitement that people mistook him for Japanese, as if being Japanese is so superior. Talking about inferiority complex.
Canada is known to have an inferiority complex precisely because its excessive focus on the US. It should really adjust its foreign policies and stop putting all the eggs in one basket. I don't see another rich country with one the world's largest GDP and highest living standard doing that.
You know in many posts Canadians argue that they don't have a Canadian accent, and that they speak just like Americans, as if talking in a different accent is a bad thing. I kept thinking, do the British hate their own distinct accent? What's so bad about having a Canadian accent, isn't it something worth celebrating? Since when American accent becomes the standard? That reminds me many years ago a Taiwanese roommate of mine telling me in all excitement that people mistook him for Japanese, as if being Japanese is so superior. Talking about inferiority complex.
I think you are not fully analayzing the situation by asserting that the reason Canada hasn't joined is solely political.
With the big 5 non-regional countries, namely Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK, all sharing the tiny pie of 25% shareholding, Canada will get a very small representation in the AIIB. It will unlikely to get more than 1.5%. Now compare Canada's stake in the other similar international organizations.
5th largest at 6.3% shareholdings at the inter American development bank
6th largest at 5.3% shareholdings at the Asian development bank
8th largest at 3.8% voting power at the African development bank
9th largest at 2.6% voting power at the IMF
One of The top 10 shareholders at all of world bank's various institutions
If there is anything Canada should do, it should be working with the U.S. and Japan to improve the abovementioned organizations
Also, with Brazil joining the AIIB, Canada has basically lost any hope of being properly represented at the AIIB.
China will be selecting about 15 to 20 nations to be the board of directors to make key decisions. Only about 3 Non regional members will be selected according to FT. I don't think there will be more than 1 seat for countries in the Americas. Canada has no hope of winning over Brazil.
Furthermore, the same applies if china decides to open a regional office in the Americas.
If we look at the prospects of China's upcoming Silk Road projects, it doesn't involve Canada much either, unlike the European countries.
For the record, if you look at my other post in the Canada section of this forum, I have posted the stats showing that Canada's exports of goods to china has dropped last year.
Therefore, I don't think there is much for Canada to gain in the AIIB.
In light of the above, China has actually made the bank quite competitive among countries, especially the European ones. One thing we may not know is the conditions attached to their applications (for Australia, they listed their conditions to the media). Luxembourg and Switzerland applied later than France, Germany, and Italy but are already admitted as members. There may be conditions imposed by the 3 largest eurozone countries with regards to their representations and interests in the bank. With the UK being admitted, there may be implications in fulfilling their conditions but we will see.
The US 'forbade'(even though it's not the right word to use at all) all of its allies from joining and look how did that turn out. Japan will join when she feels like joining it, America can do very little about it. If the US could really 'forbid' anyone from joining then the UK wouldn't have been able to join in the first place, as in your opinion, Britain and Japan are both America's 'minions'.
And I am aware of the maximum stake for countries outside of the region, which is exactly why America and Japan should both join. The charter of the organisation hasn't been drafted, there's only a memorandum now. China has already given up its veto power to buy more friends(and it probably worked as a ****load of other European countries just joined. Finland, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands etc.), if other non-Asia member states want more, they can bargain and negotiate with China, and America and Japan could well be the most powerful opposition members in this sense.
Speaking of this ****, we're currently protesting against joining it here, right in front of the presidential office, lol.
Is it possible that PRC may not allow Taiwan to join at all? how would the AIIB regard Taiwan's political status? One-china? Independent nation? What a can of worm!!!
Incidentally, it is good that more western nations join the AIIB, as many as possible. Japan and Canada has allowed the deadline to pass but no real surprise there. More nations in the AIIB is good; it would act as a form of check-and-balance against the prevalence of corruption within China's construction companies.
Is it possible that PRC may not allow Taiwan to join at all? how would the AIIB regard Taiwan's political status? One-china? Independent nation? What a can of worm!!!
Incidentally, it is good that more western nations join the AIIB, as many as possible. Japan and Canada has allowed the deadline to pass but no real surprise there. More nations in the AIIB is good; it would act as a form of check-and-balance against the prevalence of corruption within China's construction companies.
I think it is possible that they won't let us join, but I don't think most people here really care. It doesn't really matter if we join or not, after all, I mean we're not even in the IMF nor in the World Bank, lol.
I guess in a way, the existence of Taiwan shows that international organisations are all more or less crap. Not being a member of most of them doesn't matter that much. I mean, we usually bring our misery to ourselves(such as electing godawful and embarrassing legislators and president ) and the absence of IO participation is usually not the cause.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
) and the absence of IO participation is usually not the cause.
