US President Donald Trump's decision to shut down programs funded by the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, has infuriated his opponents. Some Democratic lawmakers and commentators have said Trump's move is a gift to China, as China will happily fill the void left by the withdrawal of USAID to expand its global influence.
Such fearmongering has been frequently used by Democrats and Republicans as the most effective way to knock down each other. The two parties have also accused each other of "going soft" on China.
By making such absurd arguments, US politicians, who claim to be supporters of USAID, have insulted many frontline staff working hard to help people in need in Africa, Latin America and other regions. They seem to be telling these staff that "you are nothing but US geopolitical tools" to counter China.
USAID was established in 1961 by then US president John F. Kennedy during the height of the Cold War. Over the past decades it has indeed done a lot of positive work, providing humanitarian and development assistance for the developing world.
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Many other countries, including China, Russia, India and a number of European Union member states, have been doing such good work, too, in various forms. They should now join hands to help the poor and the needy across the world instead of turning development aid into a zero-sum geopolitical game.
Development aid, like the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is to help lift people out of poverty. It is not about US versus China, or us versus them as some like to portray it to be.
All countries, indeed all entities, are welcome to fill the vacuum left by the withdrawal of USAID by contributing more funds and expertise to help low- and lower-income countries to fight diseases, build infrastructure and schools, and invest in manufacturing facilities. Development aid is a common cause for the humankind as a whole.
As a responsible major country, China will certainly support the increase of global development aid. However, as a large developing nation of 1.4 billion people, China alone cannot fill the void left by USAID.
One thing is clear: China's foreign policy of no interference in other countries' domestic affairs will remain consistent.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame said exactly this at the Doha Forum in December. Stressing the positive nature of China's activities in Africa, Kagame said China, unlike some other countries, has no strings attached to aid or loans. He praised China's activities to bring tangible benefits to African countries while some Western powers just lecture the African people.
Other participants in the Doha Forum from the Global South, such as Namibian President Nangolo Mbumba, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley and Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina Garcia, too, praised China's support for and cooperation with African and Latin American countries. The same, however, cannot be said of all USAID programs. For example, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum questioned the transparency of USAID. In fact, some Latin American leaders cheered the agency's shutdown because of USAID's agenda to fund oppositions in their countries.
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There is plenty of evidence to suggest that USAID has worked closely with the US State Department and the Central Intelligence Agency on various covert operations, aimed at destabilizing foreign governments.
The largest drawback of USAID has been its opaque funding to many news outlets, including BBC, and so-called independent journalists and NGOs around the world. Some of these entities have hysterically spread disinformation and launched smear campaigns against China over the past years.
Yet I hope the US will continue to help fight poverty and AIDS in low- and lower-income countries. I also hope the US will rectify its mistakes of pulling out of the World Health Organization, the Paris Agreement, the UN Human Rights Council, UNESCO and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
The author is chief of China Daily EU Bureau based in Brussels.
