MANILA –
China is best placed to replace the United States as a key foreign donor in Asia but may be reluctant to fully fill the void, while South Korea and Japan could struggle to give enough, experts said.
From critical maternal health care to funding disaster relief, life-saving projects in Asia hang in the balance after U.S. President Donald Trump paused foreign aid and moved to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
While China is the world’s second-largest economy, its foreign assistance looks very different from that of the United States, as Beijing primarily provides loans that need to be paid back and focuses on infrastructure projects, experts said.