Washington - The Obama administration, stung by allies who have thrown their weight behind a new China-led development lender, has turned its focus to a new front: exerting its remaining leverage to influence the bank's lending standards.
For months, the United States had urged countries to think twice about joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank until it could show sufficient standards of governance and environmental and social safeguards.
The AIIB has been seen as a challenge to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, institutions Washington helped found and over which it exerts considerable influence.