At a congressional hearing last week, David Malpass, the top US Treasury official on international affairs, issued a thinly disguised warning that might have seemed unthinkable just a few years ago: the World Bank and other bastions of the US-led international economic order are at risk of being captured by Chinese influence.
China had made “substantial inroads” into the multilateral development banks that were “worrisome”, Mr Malpass told members of the House financial services committee. “We are, therefore, working with allies and like-minded countries to guide the MDBs away from what could be viewed as endorsement of China’s geopolitical ambitions.”
Mr Malpass’s comments highlighted the extent to which the World Bank and other multilateral lenders are in danger of becoming ensnared in the economic and strategic confrontation between Washington and Beijing.