The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) said Thursday it has approved 13 new prospective members including Canada, in a coup for Beijing after Washington failed to dissuade US allies from signing up.

The Beijing-headquartered multilateral lender, which began operations earlier last year, has been seen by some as a rival to the World Bank and the Philippines-based Asian Development Bank, which was founded in 1966.

The $100 billion AIIB counts several major European countries among its shareholders after they joined up despite Washington's objections.

The bank announced approval of 13 new members Thursday, including Hong Kong, Canada, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Ireland, Hungary, Belgium, Peru, Ethiopia, and the Republic of Sudan.

They will officially join AIIB after making their first deposit of capital and finishing required domestic processes, bringing the bank's total membership to 70, it said in a statement.

"The interest in joining AIIB from around the world affirms the rapid progress we have made to establish the Bank as an international institution," AIIB president Jin Liqun said in the statement.

"I am very proud that AIIB now has members from almost every continent, and we anticipate further applications being considered by our Board of Governors later this year."

Critics feared the bank would set low standards for projects and undermine principles of social, environmental and economic sustainability adhered to by the World Bank and other multilateral development finance institutions.

The United States and Japan -- the world's largest and third-largest economies, respectively -- have notably declined to join the bank.

In June the AIIB approved its first four loans, which totalled over half a billion dollars and were financed jointly with the ADB and World Bank, its putative rivals.

The loans went to projects in Pakistan, Indonesia, Tajikistan and Bangladesh.

China, Nepal discuss joint military exercises
Kathmandu (AFP) March 23, 2017 - China's defence minister met his Nepal counterpart Thursday pushing ahead plans to hold joint military exercises, a move likely closely watched by India as Beijing boosts its influence in the region.

"We have been discussing joint military exercises with China... the minister was positive about it," Nepal's Defence Minister Bal Krishna Khand told AFP after meeting with Chang Wanquan.

Khand said that dates for the drills -- the first ever between China and Nepal -- were yet to be set.

An army source, who asked not to be named, said the exercises may be dubbed "Sagarmatha Friendship" -- referring to the Nepali name for Mount Everest -- and would focus on disaster response.

Chang Wanquan's three day trip to Kathmandu -- the first by a Chinese defence minister in 15 years -- will include talks with Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal.

The prospect of drills will likely rattle India, which is often accused of playing "big brother" to its tiny neighbour.

Sandwiched between China and India, impoverished Nepal has in recent years ping-ponged between the sphere of influence of Delhi and Beijing as the Asian giants jostle for regional supremacy.

"What we are seeing this week with Chang's visit is more of a military exchange," said James Char, a China expert at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University.

"It is also something that has grown under the current leadership of (China's President) Xi Jinping."

Landlocked Nepal remains dependent on India for the majority of its imports, but the previous administration aggressively courted China as part of a nationalist drive to decrease the country's reliance on Delhi.

China has responded with grand infrastructure promises, including recently pledging $8.3 billion in investment to Nepal -- equivalent to nearly to 40 percent of its entire GDP.

The commitment dwarfed India's investment offer of $317 million.

The current Maoist-led government in Nepal has sought to repair strained ties with Delhi while continuing to accept cash from its powerful northern neighbour.

Prime Minister Dahal is due to fly to China later Thursday and will meet with President Xi next week.

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China denies plans to build on disputed shoal
Beijing (AFP) March 22, 2017
China Wednesday denied plans to build an environmental monitoring station on a disputed shoal near the Philippines' coastline, after a local official last week announced the plan. "As we have learned from relevant authorities, the report on establishing an environmental monitoring station is false. This is not true at all," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters at a regula ... read more

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