By Laurie Chen
BEIJING (Reuters) – The global communications director of the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) said on Wednesday he had resigned and criticised the bank as “dominated by the Communist Party”, allegations which the AIIB said were “baseless”.
Bob Pickard announced the move on his personal Twitter account, saying he had left because of its “toxic culture” and accused it of being “dominated by Communist Party” members.
He also described himself as a Canadian citizen and said he did not believe the interests of Canada, which is an AIIB member, were served by the bank. He did not provide any evidence for his claims or further elaborate. Reuters could not verify his allegations.
The AIIB said in a response to Reuters that it had accepted Pickard’s resignation and called his comments “baseless and disappointing.” A public relations veteran, Pickard joined the Beijing-headquartered bank in March 2022, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“Throughout this time, the Bank has supported and empowered him to perform his role,” it said. “We are proud of our multilateral mission and have a diverse international team.”
Pickard and Canada’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for further comment. His profile on AIIB’s website could not be accessed as of Wednesday afternoon and he said on his Twitter feed that he was currently in Japan.
Established by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2016 as a Chinese alternative to the World Bank and other Western-led multilateral lending institutions, AIIB has 106 members worldwide and says it is an “apolitical” lender.
Before its launch, the United States urged countries to think twice about signing up to the bank and questioned whether it would have sufficient standards of governance and environmental and social safeguards, Reuters reported in 2015.
Earlier this year, its president said the AIIB would not get dragged into political disputes.
As of November, the AIIB had financed 194 projects in countries such as India, Uzbekistan and the Philippines, totalling $37 billion, up from $29 billion in October 2021, according to S&P Global Ratings.
(Reporting by Laurie Chen; Additional reporting by Brenda Goh)
