Ottawa halts activity with China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
Global News
Ottawa will launch a review of allegations made by a Canadian official who resigned as the bank's communications director, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said.
Canada is immediately halting all government-led activity with the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland told reporters on Wednesday.
Freeland said Ottawa was launching a review of the allegations made by a Canadian official who resigned earlier in the day as the bank’s communications director. The official, Bob Pickard, said the bank was dominated by the Chinese Communist Party.
“I have rendered my resignation,” Pickard tweeted, in part, Wednesday. “As a patriotic Canadian, this was my only course.”
The tweet goes on to say the bank is “dominated by Communist Party members” and is suffering from a toxic culture.
“I don’t believe that my country’s interests are served by its AIIB membership.”
— Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Jonathan Oatis