1st Edition
Configuring the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Power, Interests and Status
Studying the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) through the lens of international relations (IR) theory, Chen argues that it is inappropriate to treat the AIIB as either a revisionist or a complementary institution.
Instead, the bank is still evolving and the interaction of power, interests, and status that will determine whether the bank will go wild. Theoretically, the current shape of the AIIB will influence global strategic conditions and global perceptions of the bank itself, consequently affecting China’s level of dissatisfaction with its power and status in the international financial system and maneuvering in the AIIB. To empirically show that, this book presents the evolution of the AIIB, compares the bank with its main competitors in the Asia-Pacific region, and conducts ten comparative case studies to show how countries around the world have positioned themselves in response to the emergence of the AIIB.
This book presents critical insights for scholars and foreign-policy practitioners to understand China’s surging influence in international organizations and how China can shape the world order. It should prove of interest to students and scholars of IR, strategic studies, China Studies, Asian Studies, developmental studies, economics, and global finance.
1 Introduction
China’s participation in the global financial system
Structure of the book
PART I Evolution of the AIIB
2 An integrative framework: power, interests, status and global responses
A revisionist instrument of power
A complementary institution supporting the status quo
Pursuing status and reputation
Global responses to the AIIB
An integrative framework
Conclusion
3 China and the evolution of the AIIB
Power, interests, and status
The AIIB and china’s status deficit
The launch of the AIIB
Who joins the bank?
Political and strategic loans?
Toward a multilateral institution
The AIIB and the Belt and Road Initiative
Conclusion
4 AIIB in comparative perspectives
Debates surrounding the AIIB
Power structures comparison
Institutional design
A race to the bottom?
Competition for loans
Conclusion
PART II Global responses to the AIIB
5 Asia-Pacific participation in the AIIB
How Asia and Oceania view the AIIB
India: participation and restraint
Kazakhstan: joining for an admission ticket
Indonesia: obsession with infrastructure funding
Oceania: too weak to refuse
Conclusion
6 European participation in the AIIB
Explaining Europe’s reactions to the AIIB
Probability of becoming an AIIB founding member
Germany: romantic and rational encounter
Belgium: enthusiastic but hesitant
Romania: show me the money
Conclusion
7 Countries shunning the AIIB
Imminent strategic concerns and ambiguous economic interests
United states: a looming threat ahead
Japan: stand with the patron
Taiwan: sovereignty first
Conclusion
8 Conclusion: Crouching tiger, hidden dragon
Inner ambition
Outward obedience
The AIIB and the Belt and Road Initiative
Biography
Ian Tsung-yen Chen is Associate Professor in the Institute of Political Science at National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan.
