AIIB whistleblower sees China 'doubling down' on party control

Two years after he quit, Bob Pickard insists his allegations were not 'baseless'

20220613 Bob Pickard at AIIB headquarters in Beijing

Bob Pickard, a Canadian public relations veteran, went to work for the Beijing-headquartered Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in 2022 but quit, complaining of a "toxic" culture dominated by the Chinese Communist Party. (Photo supplied by Bob Pickard)

KENJI KAWASE

TOKYO -- Exactly two years after Bob Pickard quit the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, saying it was "dominated" by Chinese Communist Party members, the Canadian whistleblower insists his claims were not "baseless" as the bank maintains.

Pickard, a public relations veteran who spoke with Nikkei Asia online from the western Canadian city of Calgary, said he sees Beijing "doubling down on party control" over the multilateral lender, which has 110 member states. "They call it multilateral, they call it international, but internally it really feels like a Chinese domestic bank, frankly," he said.

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