In a surprise move, China on Wednesday said it welcomed Taiwan’s application to join the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank under an “appropriate name,” a day after the cash-rich island, which China views as a rebel province, applied to join the Beijing-backed institution. Incidentlyly, Taiwan is officially known as “the Republic of China”, while, the mainland China is known as “the People’s Republic of China”.
Taiwan, which split from mainland China in 1949 after a long civil war and is still not recognised by China, had on Tuesday issued an letter of intent to join the Beijing-led AIIB, seen by many as a counterweight to Washington-backed World Bank, IMF, and the Japanese-led Asian Development Bank (ADB). Taiwan is not a member of the UN, World Bank or IMF but it has joined some international organisations under different names.