through infrastructures in the region. Former World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz commented in a 2019 Fox Business video interview that since Xi Jin Ping came to power, the World Bank has actually been in the direction of assisting China to gain strategic interest in developing countries through the promotion of the BRI, as those countries have demonstrated more vulnerability towards foreign investments and loans that might lead them to debts that they are incapable of repaying, and also turn them into a playing field more advantageous to Chinese firms.34 This might contribute to the US and Western liberal values losing strategic advantage to China in those regions.
Looking in more micro aspects, the WB has actually been bearing the gradually increasing Chinese values over the years. The rest of this section will discuss China’s staffing choice, its strategy to influence loan conditionality, and its gesture of integrating WB rules by releasing the BRI Debt Sustainability Framework.
Authority Seeking: China’s staffing in the WB
Recent improvements of the relationship of the WB-China started with former WB President Kim Jin Yong’s (2012-2019) amicable stance on China. Although he was nominated by the Obama administration for his first term, he has been very supportive of China’s BRI and highly praised China for its successful reduction of poverty and economic development, along with affirmation of its leadership role in South-South cooperation and creating new MDBs.35 After Kim announced his resignation in January 2019, one of the Chinese official media, Xinhua Net, even praised Kim's past actions that ‘Kim has reinforced the growing
34 Julia Limitone. (2019, March 4). World Bank funding China’s bad behavior, fmr. president Wolfowitz says. Fox Business. https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/world-bank-funding-chinas-bad-behavior-fmr-president-wolfowitz-says
35 J. Y. Kim. (2018, November 1). World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim’s Remarks at the International Forum on China’s Reform and Opening Up and Poverty Reduction. World Bank.
https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/speech/2018/11/01/world-bank-group-president-jim-yong-kim-remarks-at-the-international-forum-on-chinas-reform-and-opening-up-and-poverty-reduction
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partnership with China in the areas of poverty reduction, development finance, infrastructure investment, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI),’36 and that he saw the World Bank as well positioned to support BRI projects.
Current World Bank President, David Malpass, has long been an opposer of the World Bank maintaining the considerable lending amount to China even after it showed its capability to bilaterally fund BRI countries37 with an amount almost surpassing the World Bank’s loan to Africa, for example. Also, at a congressional hearing in December 2018, Malpass as then US Treasury top official on international affairs, highlighted Kim’s compliments on China’s infrastructure techniques and promotion of the BRI that embodies China’s geopolitical ambitions. Also, at the hearing, a US Treasury’s spokesperson implied that the BRI are projects with “commercial and strategic underpinnings” that might undermine the Western-led MDBs’ debt transparency and high procurement standards.38
Matching with the period when the AIIB officially started its operation, the World Bank appointed Yang Shaolin as the Chief Administrative Officer and Managing Director, which is a newly created position considered as the second highest position in the Bank which oversees administrative affairs including budget control. In February 2019, Epoch Times listed the World Bank’s pro-BRI actions since Yang took the position, including the World Bank’s then President’s attendance to the 2017 BRI forum, where he signed the MoU with China’s Ministry of Finance along with other heads of MDBs and states, accompanied by Yang, and Yang’s continued public endorsement of the BRI.39 Media reported that Kim personally
36 xuxin. (2019, January 8). World Bank President Kim to step down on Feb. 1. XINHUANET.
http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-01/08/c_137726922.htm
37 Takeshi Kawanami. (2019, January 8). Isolated World Bank chief faced heat on cost cuts and China. Nikkei Asia.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Isolated-World-Bank-chief-faced-heat-on-cost-cuts-and-China
38 J. Politi. (2018, December 20). US warns of Chinese influence at multilateral lenders. Financial Times.
https://www.ft.com/content/0fd1c990-030e-11e9-99df-6183d3002ee1
39 何堅. (2019, May 28). 美国紧盯国际组织中共代言人（上）. 大纪元.
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/19/2/13/n11042844.htm
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praised this change of personnel as increasing the diversity40 in the Bank and a great add on to ‘expertise of driving economic and financial cooperation,’41 which are facts, only that Yang might want to exert his influence on aligning AIIB and NDB rules with WB rules since according to China Daily, he played a critical role at the Chinese Ministry of Finance in the creation of the new institutions, AIIB and the NDB, prior to joining the Bank.
Another critical position in the WB occupied by a Chinese national was one of the 25 Executive Directors, Yang Yingming, who recently just got summoned back to Beijing to serve as head of the Finance Ministry’s International Cooperation Department. His successor, Chang Junhong, was appointed in July 2020. Both appointed officials have a rich background of serving key positions in MDBs and regional multilateral institutions. Last but not least, the Vice President and Treasurer of the Word Bank, Pension Finance Administrator of the World Bank Group, is also currently occupied by a Chinese national, Hua Jingdong, who has senior experiences in several multilateral development finance institutions most critical to China’s agenda, including IFC, UNDP, AfDB and ADB.42
The well-maintained flow of highly qualified personnel for the key positions in the Bank can be seen as China’s effort to continue to seek a greater voice by inserting personnel that will have decision making authority. As a result, from a staffing strategy perspective, we could categorize China as an Authority-Seeking Stakeholder (See Figure 1.3 in Chapter 1) in the World Bank. Holding the No.2 position, having appointed an Executive Director and a Vice
40 Teo Cheng Wee. (2016, October 20). More Chinese at helm of international organisations. The Straits Times.
https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/more-chinese-at-helm-of-international-organisations
41 Syndicated from XINHUA. (2016, January 12). China’s Yang Shaolin appointed as World Bank Group’s senior official. CHINADAILY. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2016-01/12/content_23047882.htm
42 *Instead of tracking the change of personnel separately, one can utilize the USCC document, PRC Representation in International Organizations, that updates every year. Currently, the content has been updated to the latest version as of April 2020.
USCC. (2020, April). PRC Representation in International Organizations. Chinese Heads of International Organizations.
https://www.uscc.gov/sites/default/files/2020- 04/PRC_Representation_in_International_Organizations_April2020.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2GVPKmlqrAkzRX-eq8CkcYy4-xXLsi6Z8V3WDjLgKT-IIavasy_O8ZeWQ.
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President and Treasurer at the WB simultaneously qualifies China as an Authority-Seeking Stakeholder. That is not to say that China’s strategy in the WB only falls into this category.
Next up, this thesis will take a look at an example that moves China towards the center of the spectrum.