China refutes US' criticism on AIIB

China today refuted US' criticism of Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) lacking transparency saying 20 countries have endorsed the multilateral structure of the newly-established institution.
"I want to reiterate that during the whole process of the AIIB, China has maintained communication and coordination with Japan, US and Indonesia and other countries.
"We welcome the participation of other countries in the process," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said about the AIIB, a Chinese initiative.
Earlier, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: "Secretary Kerry has made clear directly to the Chinese as well as to other partners that we welcome the idea of an infrastructure bank for Asia but we strongly urge that it meet international standards of governance and transparency."

"We have concerns about the ambiguous nature of the AIIB proposal as it currently stands, that we have also expressed publicly," she said.
Australia, South Korea, Japan and Indonesia were among the noticeable absentees at the ceremony to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to form the AIIB.

Hua yesterday welcomed India's participation.
"We can see that the establishment of AIIB received positive feed back from various parties," Hua said today.
She quoted Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam's speech at today's launch of AIIB during which he expressed appreciation for proposing and leading the establishment of the inter-governmental regional development institution in Asia.

Speaking on behalf of all the 21 participants of the AIIB, Shanmugaratnam said its establishment will be a milestone and strongly improve the infrastructure and long-term development in Asia.
He said all the participants will adhere to openness and multilateralism, and work together to make preparations for the establishment and operation of the AIIB smoothly and make it a good example for multilateral cooperation in the world.
India along with 20 other countries today signed an agreement to become founding members of the China-backed AIIB to aid the infrastructure development in the Asian region and reduce the dependence on Western-dominated World Bank and IMF.