China offers countries to fund programs instead of USAID - Politico
China is offering its assistance to countries to implement programs that were left without funding after Donald Trump's decision to terminate the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to RBC-Ukraine.
According to Politico, Chinese officials have already informed the government of Nepal, a strategically important country for Beijing on the southern slopes of the Himalayas between India and China, of their country's readiness to replace USAID programs with its own development projects.
Representatives of the Cook Islands, an archipelago in the Indo-Pacific region, led by Prime Minister Mark Brown, will visit China this week to sign an agreement to deepen trade and economic cooperation, including increased Chinese investment in infrastructure development in the island nation.
In Colombia, non-governmental organizations have reported Chinese interest in replacing frozen USAID programs in the country. Last year, Colombia received about $385 million from USAID.
It is noted that such actions by Beijing indicate an intention to take advantage of the situation and try to oust the United States from countries and regions important to China to promote its own interests as soon as possible.
Democratic congressmen in the U.S. House of Representatives have developed a strategy to explain to the Trump administration the potential rise of China through the freezing of U.S. foreign aid. However, Republicans in the House of Representatives have not defended USAID and the resumption of aid.
As a reminder, on January 21, US President Donald Trump announced the suspension of all foreign aid programs for 90 days to check their compliance with his foreign policy.
