Cuts in American aid are crippling groups promoting rights in China

China Labour Watch (clw), an ngo based in New York City, has investigated labour abuses in Chinese supply chains for 20 years. It is small, with a staff of seven and a budget of $800,000 a year. Now it is on the verge of collapse. Some 90% of its funds come from the American government. Since Donald Trump ordered a freeze on foreign aid in January, clw has had to halt most of its work. Li Qiang, its founder, says staff will have to be laid off. It is all “very painful”, he says, and “completely unexpected”.

clw is one of many China-focused groups facing closure. The State Department has said it is freezing aid for 90 days to review programmes for waste, wokeness and support of American national interests. Those depending most on American funds are run on a shoestring budget by exiled activists who struggle to find other support, says Maya Wang of Human Rights Watch, a group not affected by the cuts. Private donors avoid critics of China in order to protect business interests. Governments are wary of Chinese dissidents. Activists cannot even rely on crowdfunding, says Ms Wang, because of surveillance.

These organisations often have the best language skills and contacts within China. Journalists rely on them for first-hand accounts and data. clw has built a network of contacts with workers inside factories across China and in Chinese projects in the global south. Uyghur and Tibetan researchers use personal connections to report on re-education camps and detentions.

The Economist spoke with members of groups that monitor protests, support local journalists and report on the Chinese state’s repression. Most were afraid to speak on the record because they did not want to be punished for criticising the Trump administration. Some said they were applying for waivers to the freeze, hoping that China hawks in the administration would continue their support. Others were conflicted about taking funds from a government that no longer seemed aligned with their values.

For decades the Communist Party has accused Western governments of fomenting instability in China through civil society. “Everyone in this space is constantly doing risk assessments to figure out if we’re going to get shut down from the Chinese side,” says one member of a Washington-based group. It is “deeply ironic”, she says, that they may soon collapse because of American policy. America’s government is “essentially doing the job of the Chinese government for it”, says Ms Wang.■

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