Back in the day: The UK and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

Western relations with China have become much more frosty in recent years and there has been talk of a new “Cold War”. Just a while back, however, things were very different. Although there were very significant concerns in Washington DC, Tokyo, and within the British government itself, the UK (then led by Prime Minister David Cameron), jumped in ahead of other European countries to become a founding member of the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in early 2015.

Why did the UK make this move? In a new article in the Asia Europe Journal, Eddie Ashbee of EGB argues that although economic imperatives and Cameron’s ability to use Britain’s National Security Council as a decision-making venue played their part, notions of “first mover advantage” were, as so often before in western dealings with China, pivotal. The British government believed that if it moved quickly it could get a headstart over other countries thereby opening up new possibilities.

The article is part of a broader project considering western policy towards China in the wake of the Trump presidency and Brexit. 

First mover advantage: the United Kingdom and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Asia Europe Journal:  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10308-021-00595-6