Obama humiliated as top allies rush to join China’s development bank

By David R. Sands
The Washington Times –
Wednesday, March 18, 2015
Source: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/18/obama-humiliated-as-allies-join-chinas-asian-infra/

Britain, France, Germany, Italy sign on as Beijing courts Australia, South Korea

The battle of wills between Beijing and Washington over a China-sponsored development bank for Asia is turning into a rout, and the Obama administration has found itself isolated and embarrassed as its top allies lined up this week to join the proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

In what one analyst dubbed a “diplomatic disaster” for the U.S., Britain became the first major European ally to sign on as a founding member of the Shanghai-based investment bank, joined quickly by France, Germany and Italy, which dismissed public and private warnings from the U.S. about the bank’s potential impact on global lending standards and the competition it could provide to existing institutions such as the U.S.-dominated World Bank.