From Bald Eagle to Dragon: How Chinese foreign aid filled in gaps left by the U.S.

Article by Batuhan IB13 (05.03.2026)

One of the most pressing concerns for humanitarians and philanthropists worldwide is the betterment of all nations through foreign aid. Historically, economically developed countries have always provided aid to less developed nations, with the United States of America having contributed more foreign aid than most other countries. Recently, however, the U.S. has begun to downgrade its foreign aid efforts through slashing the budgets of agencies like the US Agency for International Development (USAID). This move has been greatly documented as the result of domestic U.S. politics shifting more to national concerns rather than global ones. While this cutdown on foreign aid has caused the worsening of famine, disease, and living standards globally, it has also left a political gap that countries like China have been waiting for.

The Trump administration has set its policies around an “America First” agenda. This change in policies has resulted in budget slashes for foreign aid projects of up to 80%, causing the firing of thousands of employees. Estimates by The Lancet Medical Journey find that these budget cuts could lead to the deaths of 14 million people by 2030. Many of the agencies set up by the U.S. for foreign aid have always been in order to influence politics, with Ronald Reagan (the 40th U.S. president from 1981 to 1989) telling Parliament members in the UK his wish to have “tools to foster the infrastructure of democracy”. This wish would eventually become the trifecta of agencies of USAID, the State Department, and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). In modern times, these agencies have been suffering under the budget cuts imposed by both the Trump Administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

While USAID has been rapidly reduced and pulled back, many concerns have been raised internationally about the impact on China’s foreign aid and how it could now expand to cover more foreign aid gaps. Specific concerns come from the cutting of budgets for agencies built to watch China’s policies. Among these is the China Labour Watch (CLW), which investigates labor rights abuses in China. With a lowered budget, the CLW can no longer investigate or operate claims the way it used to and can no longer call out labor abuses in China accurately. Many other agencies have kept their silence despite the lowered budgets out of fear that any criticism can lead to further cuts. An anonymous Chinese state representative has confirmed that they have reached out to one China-focused agency based in the U.S. in order to offer a deal of better funding coming from China instead.

Similar deals have been given to at least two other agencies based within the U.S. and targeted at China (though they wish to remain anonymous), where state representatives have offered that instead of public criticism against groups and people in China, they could instead start private conversations within China to achieve social change and therefore their goals. While the agencies coming forward state that these deals are most likely tactics to buy silence, Chinese state-run media have denied the claim of replacing American foreign aid, with the tabloid Global Times calling the claim “a false cognitive structure built on Western biases”. It has been reported that China has dramatically increased its resources towards humanitarian aid while the US has been slashing budgets. This can be corroborated by last year, when Beijing pledged $50 billion towards additional funding of the African continent. This can be compared to the U.S., which once spent $70 billion annually towards foreign aid.

In March of 2025, as the U.S. was getting rid of its food assistance programs, China would donate $2 million in rice towards Uganda. After the U.S. terminated a $37 million HIV/AIDS assistance grant in Zambia, China pledged in May to help the African continent fight HIV/AIDS and included benefits like donating 500,000 testing kits for the diseases and planning more meetings to further discuss the issue. In Southeastern Asia, President Xi Jinping embarked on a tour throughout Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia to meet with their leaders. This tour would lead to an agreement in Vietnam for railroad connections and 37 agreements in Malaysia towards energy, education, and infrastructure, with more exchanges of technical and manufacturing in Malaysia. Lastly, in Latin America, China hosted an event called the “China-Latin American and the Caribbean Forum” with a follow-up announcement and pledge of a $9 billion credit line with even more investments in the region towards infrastructure.

Further examples include mine clearing operations in Cambodia, where certain assignments were halted due to lack of U.S. funding, which was promptly resolved when China stepped in with financial aid. China also partnered with the United Nations World Food Programme with its China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA) in order to provide school meals to over 100,000 students in southern Kyrgyzstan. These examples all showcase how China has been more than willing to increase its budget towards foreign aid projects and how, in some cases, it has supplanted the U.S. in providing that aid. This can majorly be attributed to their unique style of foreign aid that focuses on loans and infrastructure through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). While China is notorious for its lack of information on its own budgets and projects, analysis by William and Mary’s Global Research Institute marks that between 2000 and 2021, China has given $1.34 trillion to developing countries, mostly through the BRI.

While China has usually only given its foreign aid through the BRI, their policy towards foreign aid seems to have changed to include smaller grassroots projects. This change first seems to have occurred on May 16th of 2025 with the earlier mentioned UN and CIDCA partnership. USAID officially lost 83% of all its operations nearly two months before, on the 10th of March, with USAID officially ceasing all operations and transferring all remaining functions to the State Department on the 1st of July. China increasing its involvement in foreign aid so close to these events does indicate an ulterior motive. While this shift has led to a higher dependency on Chinese foreign aid, many critics wonder how unstable regions of the world will now cope without USAID there to stabilize and provide security for multiple international communities. This may cause an increase in security risks throughout the world as unstable regions have less of a stabilizing force.

In conclusion, political changes in America have led to a ripple effect on the rest of the world as USAID has been cut down. This effect has led to a higher dependency on other political superpowers like China, who are more than willing to increase their own foreign aid to fill the gap left by USAID in order to gain more political momentum. However, unlike USAID, which worked to stabilize unstable regions directly through its many operations, China’s aid focuses more on infrastructure and loans to countries rather than the stabilization of regions. This could eventually lead to heightened security risks worldwide as a stabilizing international force disappears, and should be a reminder about how disastrous the ripple effects caused by politics can be towards human lives.

Sources:

Source 1-The Guardian

Davidson, Helen, and Amy Hawkins. “US Cedes Ground to China with ‘self-Inflicted Wound’ of USAID Shutdown, Analysts Say.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 7 Feb. 2025, www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/07/donald-trump-usaid-shutdown-impact-china-relationship-funding.  Accessed 28 Dec. 2025. 

Source 2- Reuters

Zengerle, Patricia. “China Steps in as US Pulls Back from Diplomacy, Report Says | Reuters.” Reuters, 14 July 2025, www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/china-steps-us-pulls-back-diplomacy-report-says-2025-07-14/.  Accessed 28 Dec. 2025. 

Source 3- NPR

Feng, Emily. “China Sees an Opportunity as the U.S. Cuts Aid to Groups around the World.” NPR, 20 Feb. 2025, www.npr.org/2025/02/18/nx-s1-5300108/aid-cuts-and-china-muscles-in. Accessed 28 Dec. 2025. 

Source 4- The times of India

TIMESOFINDIA.COM, TOI World Desk. “USAID: How Donald Trump’s Suspension of USAID Helps China: World News.” The Times of India, TOI, 12 Feb. 2025, timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/handing-on-a-silver-platter-how-donald-trumps-suspension-of-usaid-helps-china/articleshow/118161364.cms.  Accessed 28 Dec. 2025. 

Source 5- Eurasianet

Doe, John. “China Filling Void Left by USAID’s Dismantling | Eurasianet.” Eurasianet, 19 May 2025, eurasianet.org/china-filling-void-left-by-usaids-dismantling.  Accessed 28 Dec. 2025.