On Thursday, March 12, the United Kingdom's Chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister), George Osborne, announced that the U.K. is applying to become a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The U.K. has thus become the first major Western country to seek to join the proposed new development bank, which was launched when 21 countries from the Asia-Pacific region signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing in October 2014 on the sidelines of the last APEC summit. The U.K. will join discussions later this month to reach consensus on the bank's prospective Articles of Agreement, which set out the governance and accountability arrangements that will underpin the AIIB's operating practices.

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It was hardly surprising that the British move attracted critical attention from the United States, which has warned about possible weak governance at the new bank and about its duplication or undermining of the work of other international development banks such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank. What was surprising, however, was that these criticisms were expressed openly. The very next day, a U.S. government spokesman complained that Britain's decision had been made with virtually no consultation with the U.S., and that Britain's "constant accommodation" of China was not the best way to engage with a rising power.

Even between two firm allies like the U.K. and the U.S., there will be the occasional disagreement. The British government denies that its decision has not been discussed with the U.S., claiming that AIIB membership has been a regular topic of consultation within the G7 framework. It is also perfectly consistent with the U.K. government's established policy towards China - Osborne himself, during a visit to Beijing in 2013, said he wanted to "change Britain's attitude to China." The U.K. is not afraid to position itself in front of the pack in financial engagement with China. The U.K.'s issue of RMB-denominated bonds in October 2014 was the first by a Western government, and the country is pushing to establish London as a platform for overseas business transacted in Chinese currency.