10 April 2015

Taiwan: Ma’s AIIB Dilemma

By Pei-Yu Wei
April 08, 2015

The Taiwanese government of President Ma Ying-Jeou last week announced that it had submitted an application to become a founding member of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), sparking protests in front of the Presidential Palace over the lack of transparency in the decision-making process and the channel through which the application was submitted.

Taiwan’s government faces a dilemma. Should it push ahead with its application for founding member status and risk political backlash at home, or should it rescind its application and risk regional isolation and losing the benefits that the AIIB could bring? As it stands, both Ma and Taiwan may have more to lose than to gain should its application be successful.

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