China's initiative of building a dedicated to build a dedicated development bank in Asia might be close to fruition, but the United States government is keen of lobbying potential allies in the hopes of impeding the project.

Last year, President Xi Jinping pledged a US$50 billion worth of initial capital to the proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and has urged other wealthy nations like Qatar and Saudi Arabia to contribute.

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The goal is to provide financial aid to underdeveloped countries that needed immediate response on energy, communication and transportation causes.

The move is Beijing's response to critics who have long been questioning China's contribution to global economy as one of the world powers.

But the idea sparked an even greater China-United States competition in the region not to mention a close rivalry with the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), New York Times reported.

The White House is determined to persuade South Korea and Australia to abstain, thus giving China a lesser competitive advantage in the international lending market. President Barrack Obama is set to attend the 25^th ASEAN Summit on November.

The U.S. Treasury Department also criticized China for using the proposed institution as a political power play in influencing Southeast Asian countries that are vulnerable to territorial disputes. The agency added that the new bank is more likely not to meet safety and environmental standards set since after the Second World War.

In contrast, Clay Lowery, a U.S. Treasury official (2005 to 2009) rebutted that China's proposal could actually merit positive effects in the region, adding that the administration's rationale was improperly justified.

Lowery explained that energy is among the highest priorities in Asia, but U.S. opposed an ADB funding for coal power plants due global warming concerns. China also poses as an automatic competitor especially with its financial backing even though ADB mentioned that Asia needs at least $8 trillion of investments in infrastructure by 2020.

In August, the Chinese leader met with U.S. ambassador to China, Max Baucus, to urge Washington to be more subtle in its efforts to eradicate the new bank venture. Assistant director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics He Fan said that China feels "suspicious" of the existing international financial institutions because of "lack of ownership".

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