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.
For the current administration, joining the AIIB would be a policy victory. In fact, this may be the last opportunity for the beleaguered Ma to make a push towards closer ties to Beijing before he steps down in 2016, and the move could potentially regain the confidence of the Chinese government, whose support for Ma has been waning. Taiwanese government officials stated that joining the AIIB could bring about better regional integration, raise Taiwan’s international profile, and open the path to greater international participation in the future. In a bid to gain support from the public, the Ministry of Finance told the media that membership in the AIIB could also create investment opportunities for domestic businesses, and increase the exchange of finance professionals and strategies.
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