The decision by US President Donald Trump to suspend development aid has brought us to a standstill in about 130 countries. It has dramatic results for millions of people around the world and humanitarian aid workers.
Trump has accused the development agency USAID of waste. On 6 February, he wrote that his “Truth social” platform looks like billions of dollars have been stolen in the USA. ” He did not give any evidence.
Opposition politicians in the US have accused Trump of endangering the global fight against hunger, illness and conflict. “This is not about donation,” said Democratic American Senator Andy Kim for New Jersey on CNN. “It is now about us in this very dangerous global environment.
“USA is one of our best tools to combat financial and economic impacts from China.”
‘China is a good friend’
Two superpowers use foreign aid in their competition for global domination. This rivalry is particularly clear in Indo-Pacific, for example in Bangladesh. The country is of strategic importance to China, and with a population of over 170 million it is a major market for Chinese goods.
China does not disclose IT IT foreign aid data, but researchers at the US State of Virginia estimates that China has financed 138 development projects in Bangladesh since 2000, priced at $ 21 billion (€ 20.2 trillion).
So far, America is catching against it: in 2024 alone, it provided $ 393 million aid to the South Asian country.
Jashim Udin, director of ADAB for the Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh, told DW in a telephone interview, “Bangladesh has been in a very good partnership with USAID and the US government for a long time.” He hoped that the US would soon resume its assistance.
His association brings over 1000 non-governmental organizations together. The US said, “It has been funding us since the beginning of our independence in 1971.”
Udin said that the stop in American aid is now causing important problems for the country, thousands of employees have already made meaningless.
Udin said, “This is now a big problem for us. It will weaken civil society in Bangladesh. Social instability can come up with high health risks and poverty growth. All this fuel will be given.” ,
“We need to diversify our funding. China is a good friend of Bangladesh,” said, Hopefully China can now expand its support to include humanitarian assistance and support for social projects.
China is focusing on large -scale projects
While USAID mainly works with local organizations, China assistance, installed in 2018, focuses on loans and large infrastructure projects. However, both agencies chase the same goals: to secure the impact of their governments in major partner countries.
With its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China is currently trying to tie more than 145 countries together through joint major projects, which discovering as bridges, roads and ports.
A Report published by Chinese Foreign Ministry American development aid in 2024 as “being selfish, arrogant, hypocritical and ugly, and as interfering in internal affairs of other countries for its own benefits, American foreign aid is seriously negative impact on world peace and development Puts. ”
However, the battle for the impact between the US and China is not a zero-zodiac game, where the loser loses, Ivan Cooper said, which is the lead of “prominent” “.Re -linking American diplomacy“Project at Stimson Center Think Tank in Washington.
“I don’t think the USA’s collapse, employees funding and firing suddenly have a tremendous impact in the world,” he told DW by phone.
The cold of money will probably lead to the fall of development support industry. “But this would not take steps to fill China’s gap,” Heer said.
Can Germany step up?
“There can be nothing better with sugar than an American return,” said the economic cooperation and the Christian Democrats of Germany and the Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) spokesman Volkar Klein, spokesman of the Parliamentary Group for the development of the conservative block of the Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) . “Beijing is trying to use this support to secure sales markets, create dependence and gain benefits in international dialogues.”
Klein said it would destroy China’s position and confidence in the United States.
After America, Germany is the world’s largest donor. What is the effect of the latest tricks on the development policy in Germany? “I don’t think it will affect confidence in cooperation with us. On the contrary, we are seen as a reliable partner, and the matter should remain,” Klein said.
German Development Minister Swenja Shulz, a German Development Minister of Center-Vams Social Democrats (SPD), recently made a similar statement on public broadcaster RBB. Europe now has to see what can be achieved together, he said. “We will be well advised to strengthen our development cooperation, not cut it,” he said.
Clean’s conservative referendum leads. Should they emerge as the strongest party and form a new German government after the federal election on 23 February, Klein wants to push it to take more international responsibility.
“But we could not compensate for American shortage,” he warned. “Development in the form of US Germany pays about six times more in cooperation. So it’s a complete confusion to think of us to make a difference.”
Almost all USAID employees closed
According to research analyst Cooper, now the concern is that the sudden collapse of development programs can lead to more conflict and migration worldwide.
He saw, “We have seen how the instability and populistism in migration flow may rise and I think it can be destroyed for more than the middle of the United States,” he warned.
According to several US media outlets, only 300 USAID employees out of 10,000 are currently allowed to continue their work. It is not clear how many development projects will be resumed after Trump 90-day review.
It has been a long time because development cooperation has been discussed as warmly as it is now – in America and beyond.
Therefore, USAID will probably be a subject at the Munich Security Conference, which runs from 14 February to 16 February. Chinese representative, US vice -president JD Vance and state secretary Marco Rubio are expected to participate.
This article was original in German.