China has rejected Taiwan’s application to join its new Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a founding member, while signalling that the door is still open for the self-ruled island to join under a different name.

中国已拒绝台湾以创始成员身份加入其新的亚洲基础设施投资银行（Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank，简称：亚投行）的申请，但表示，欢迎台湾以其他名义加入亚投行。

“We believe that a solution can be found regarding Taiwan’s participation in AIIB in a proper capacity through pragmatic consultation,” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said on Monday.

中国的国务院台湾事务办公室周一表示：“相信通过务实协商，能够为台湾方面以适当名义参与亚投行找到办法。”

Taiwan participates in the Asian Development Bank as “Taipei, China” and in other international organisations — as well as the Olympic Games — as “Chinese Taipei”. Presidential spokesman Charles I-Hsin Chen would not comment on whether Ma Ying-jeou’s administration would consider joining the bank under “other names or other scenarios”.

台湾以“中国台北”的名义保留亚洲开发银行（Asian Development Bank，简称“亚行”）席位，而在其他国际组织（以及奥运会）中，台湾的名称为“中华台北”。台湾总统府发言人陈以信(Charles Chen I-hsin)不愿就马英九政府是否会考虑以“其他名义或其他方式”加入亚投行置评。

Mr Ma’s last-minute decision to apply to join the AIIB was the first test of how the bank might be influenced by China’s political priorities. The multilateral lender is partly modelled on the US-dominated World Bank and the ADB, which though based in Manila is heavily influenced by Japan.

马英九在最后一刻申请加入亚投行的举动，是该银行可能在多大程度上受中国政治考虑影响的首项考验。这家多边银行在一定程度上以美国主导的世界银行(World Bank)和亚行为模板，亚行总部位于马尼拉，但在很大程度上受日本影响。

A total of 47 countries applied to join the bank before the March 31 deadline for founding members, in spite of US efforts to dissuade its allies from joining.

尽管美国努力说服其盟友不要加入，但共有47个国家在3月31日截止日期之前申请加入亚投行成为创始成员国。

Although the AIIB has proclaimed its multilateral aspirations, the statement from the Taiwan Affairs Office made it clear the rejection had been made in Beijing.

尽管亚投行宣称其多边抱负，但由国台办发布声明说明，做出拒绝决定的是北京方面。

However, even if the decision had been made by all the founding members, the outcome might have been the same. Most nations maintain diplomatic relations with China and not Taiwan, which is regarded by Beijing as a renegade province.

然而，即便由所有创始成员国做出决定，结果也可能一样。多数国家仍与中国大陆（而非台湾）保持外交关系，中国大陆将台湾视为一个叛离省份。

“We are willing to take into consideration all opinions so that the issue of Taiwan’s participation can be solved properly,” the Taiwan Affairs Office said.

国台办称：“我们愿意考虑所有的意见，以便合理地解决台湾加入（亚投行）的问题。”

“But if the future of Taiwan’s accession fails to meet the precondition of ‘dignity and equality’,” Mr Chen said, “then Taiwan would prefer not to participate.”

“但如果未来台湾加入后未能达到‘尊严和平等’的前提，”台湾总统府发言人陈以信说，“那台湾宁愿不参加。”

Beyond the tricky politics in establishing the AIIB, the rush to join it highlights the new development bank’s potential to fund infrastructure such as power generation or coal transport — projects that the World Bank, for instance, no longer has a mandate to fund.

抛开建立亚投行面临的棘手政治问题，各国的蜂拥加入突显这家新开发银行在为发电或煤炭运输等基础设施建设方面提供资金的潜力，而世行在此类项目上已经没有了提供资金的权限。

That could help create new business for the developed world’s engineering and heavy industrial companies, because China has pledged that AIIB funding will not be tied to contracts for Chinese groups.

这将有助于为发达国家的工程和重工业企业带来新业务，因为中国已承诺，亚投行的出资将不会与中国企业获得合同挂钩。

Funding projects through a multilateral bank could also help China avoid risk. A decade of aggressive bilateral lending by its policy banks has left Beijing painfully exposed to economic downturns or political shifts in countries such as Venezuela, Sri Lanka or Zimbabwe.

通过多边银行为项目融资还有利于中国规避风险。中国政策性银行10年来激进的双边贷款，已经使北京方面被动地暴露于一些国家（如委内瑞拉、斯里兰卡和津巴布韦）经济衰退或政局变动的风险。