This article originally appeared in the Bureau. Below is an excerpt from the article.
By Bob Pickard, January 23, 2026
I was the global communications chief at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a Beijing-headquartered multilateral development institution founded in 2016, until I resigned on principle in June 2023 over the undue influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the bank’s everyday operations. I directly experienced the toxic corporate culture that the party’s political contamination created.
While the bank denied my public allegations about the institution’s true nature, the installation of Zou Jiayi — a longtime Chinese finance official and Communist Party member — as AIIB’s new president this week should dispel any remaining illusions.
I feel completely vindicated, because this is not a technocratic leadership change; it is a political one, designed to entrench Communist Party influence within the bank and extend China’s reach wherever AIIB lends money.
***TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE, VISIT THE BUREAU HERE***
Bob Pickard is Principal of Leadership Communication Inc., a strategic public relations consultancy advising public figures and senior executives, and a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a Canadian public policy think tank.
