US President Donald Trump’s freeze on foreign assistance programmes could leave a vacuum in Afghanistan for China to step into, but analysts say Beijing would be unwilling to do so.
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Trump last month announced a 90-day suspension of all foreign aid and an overhaul of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the world’s largest single aid donor.
Afghanistan is a key recipient of US assistance. Despite America’s withdrawal from the country in 2021, it still accounted for 43.9 per cent of the total aid received by Afghanistan last year, according to the United Nations.
USAID has remained crucial in Afghanistan because it indirectly funds programmes in health, food security, agriculture and education in cooperation with other humanitarian agencies.
Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, founding director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Centre for Governance and Markets, said the USAID withdrawal “continues the US disengagement from Afghanistan, further weakening its influence”.
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“Since 2021, Washington’s role has been reactive, focusing on sanctions and counterterrorism rather than shaping events on the ground,” she said.