China cannot believe its luck over new investment bank

China cannot believe its luck over new investment bank - FT.com China’s strategic volte face has benefited from an almost comic series of mis-steps by its great geopolitical rival. US congressional reluctance to sign off on reforms giving China and other developing nations a greater role at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund has been compounded by the Obama administration’s inability to, as they like to say on Capitol Hill, “count the votes” on the AIIB. It is one thing to oppose an institution behind-the-scenes and fail quietly; it is quite another to do so brazenly. Worse for Mr Obama, his standing in the Asia-Pacific region will deteriorate even further if he cannot secure congressional “fast-track” authority to seal the deal on the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade talks, which pointedly exclude China. Should TPP fail, then the economic component of the US president’s “pivot” towards Asia will — to Beijing’s surprise and delight — have completely unravelled.http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/1c73b174-d9df-11e4-9b1c-00144feab7de.html?ftcamp=published_links%2Frss%2Fcomment%2Ffeed%2F%2Fproduct&siteedition=intl&utm_source=The+Sinocism+China+Newsletter&utm_campaign=60222ad985-Sinocism04_07_15&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_171f237867-60222ad985-29615013&mc_cid=60222ad985&mc_eid=5935182a65#axzz3WZNzdjes