Letters | As Trump turns off the US aid tap, will Asia step up?

Readers discuss a possible outcome of the US president’s decision to freeze foreign aid, and the impact of tariffs on the world economy

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A Rohingya child walks on the bridge made from bamboo at a refugee camp, in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on September 30, 2024. The camp is just one that benefits greatly from global aid. Photo: Reuters

Published: 11:30am, 4 Feb 2025

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Humanitarian work across Asia and the Pacific was shaken this week by a sudden suspension of US financing. Health, relief and shelter programmes were set to grind to a halt. A last-minute waiver might mitigate the worst impacts of this suspension, but dependency on US aid to protect some of the region’s most vulnerable people has been laid bare.

Will Asian countries step in to reduce that dependency? There are positive signs. Japan and Australia have been generous for decades. South Korea’s role as a donor is growing.

About seven years ago, China formed the Chinese International Development Cooperation Agency and has increased its global giving ever since. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations provides regional leadership on humanitarian issues through the AHA centre. Indonesia recently contributed US$30 million to the Gavi vaccine alliance.

Some of the new Asian donors were recipients of aid just a decade or so ago, and several still are. It’s early days, but these trends give cause for hope that Asia will step up in time.

A less optimistic view would point out the blatant disparity in current burden sharing. Take the refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar. You would think that the countries with the greatest stake in the camps being safe and well-functioning would be Malaysia and Indonesia. But no, it is mostly European and North American donors who fund the camp services, not neighbours.