If you're going to cancel it or freeze it, better to not have gone in in the first place. However, I would note that while the belt and road is a totally opaque organization with no governance that's visible, it is at a scale that's at least 10 times the size of the AIIB. The belt and road is a far more challenging and difficult institution. Creating the AIIB was an effort to try to create a counterpart to the Asian Development Bank. It's relatively successful and more admirable—I suppose you could say—than the belt and road, but if you're going to freeze, if you're not going to be there constantly, it's better to not start in the beginning. I don't see the gain in going in and then pulling out. It's better to have stayed out. I'm not sure there's enough common ground to have gone in in the first place.
On January 29th, 2024. See this statement in context.