Summary
U.S. lawmakers are concerned that China will expand its influence as the U.S. reviews foreign aid programs, including demining grants in Cambodia.
The State Department paused funding, affecting NGOs that rely on U.S. support. China recently provided $4.4 million for Cambodia’s demining efforts, raising concerns that it will step in where U.S. aid is cut.
Bipartisan voices warn that reducing foreign assistance weakens U.S. influence globally.
Former ambassadors urged the government to resume aid, citing national security and diplomatic benefits.
What a stupid article: of course this will happen. It should have been immediately obvious. It already was happening as we were already so miserly.
If they were actually concerned about Chinas influence, a better approach would be doubling down, or tripling, or more. Instead of spending untold billions on the next aircraft carrier, we’d do more for peace and security by investing that in the development of underprivileged friends abroad