Taiwan should consider joining AIIB: scholars

Want China Times, CNA 2015-03-19

Chu Yun-han. (Photo/Cheng Jen-nan)

Taiwan should consider following in the footsteps of France, Germany, Italy and Britain and try to join the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), several scholars said Wednesday.

Chu Yun-han, a research fellow at Academia Sinica, said he expects other countries, including Australia and South Korea, will join the AIIB.

When those two countries demonstrate their interest in joining, it will be time for Taiwan to do likewise, Chu said in a keynote speech on China's ascent and the reorganization of the world order in the 21st century.

Taiwan should not miss the opportunity to join the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the ASEAN+6 Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Chu said.

Since the markets for Taiwan's traditional exports are mainly in Southeast Asia, participation in the RCEP will have a great impact on Taiwan's economy, he said.

Also Wednesday, Norman Yin , a professor in the Money and Banking Department at National Chengchi University, said that if Taiwan wants to break through the bottleneck in its economic development, joining the AIIB will be a good option because it will help boost Taiwan's exports and expand its foreign trade.

Improving cross-strait relations will be a key move for Taiwan in overcoming the obstacles to its integration into the regional economic blocs, including joining the AIIB, Yin said.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Wednesday that the Ministry of Finance will make an overall assessment of the economic and trade, diplomatic and cross-strait relationship issues related to the development of the AIIB. On that basis, a decision will be made on whether Taiwan should try to join, the MAC said.

The AIIB, which was formally launched by Chinese president Xi Jinping last year, is one element of a broader Chinese push to create new financial and economic institutions that will increase its international influence. It has become a central issue in the growing contest between China and the US over who will define the economic and trade rules in Asia in the coming decades.

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