Why China Won’t Replace Western Aid

Graph via AidData

Tom Fletcher, the UN’s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, told reporters on Wednesday that the Trump administration’s sudden withdrawal of U.S. foreign assistance will endanger about 300 million people. The collapse of U.S. foreign assistance (and cuts announced in Europe) raised questions about whether China will fill the gap.

A new policy brief from AidData, a research unit at the College of William and Mary, demolishes this assumption by showing that, while China has spent heavily on infrastructure and other commercial sectors, its spending on traditional aid fields like health doesn’t compare to Western aid.

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by CGSP Staff

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