![]() retrenchment from global leadership, and reinforcing existing investments in development spending.Ĭhina has used medical humanitarian aid as a tool with which to counter the prevailing narrative of responsibility for Covid-19’s spread, a tactic China watchers say is consistent with past efforts to obfuscate the state’s real intentions. Countering a NarrativeĬhina’s provision of medical aid in response to Covid-19 achieves three interests-drawing attention away from the Chinese Communist Party’s inadequate early response to the virus, seizing on a moment of perceived U.S. While this represents a high-water mark for Chinese contributions, it pales in comparison to the contributions of the United States and other leading donors. Since March, China has announced $50 million in donations to the World Health Organization ( WHO ) and the United Nations’ Global Humanitarian Response Plan to Covid-19. China will also contribute at minimum $100 million into the UN humanitarian system in 2020. In comparison, the United States spent $6.89 billion on humanitarian assistance in 2017. It set a record at $128.5 million in 2017 notably this comprised less than one percent of the global total for humanitarian spending that year. The newly established China International Development Cooperation Agency ( CIDCA), a Chinese sub-ministry meant to coordinate foreign aid, has stated the Covid-19 response will be China’s “most intensive and wide-ranging emergency humanitarian operation since founding.” China’s humanitarian spending has peaked several times in recent years, demonstrating a willingness of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to increase disaster response spending. Germany, a significant donor state, recently called on China to take a larger role in the humanitarian sector, noting its “economic capacity to provide substantial humanitarian assistance.” In 2017, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) recommended China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) add a humanitarian dimension to its far-reaching development agenda.ĭuring the Covid-19 pandemic, experts estimate that China will provide its highest ever amount of humanitarian assistance. Consequently, China’s willingness to contribute to humanitarian responses has been encouraged by some humanitarian stakeholders. Donor states have funded just 35.7 percent of the $9.5 billion required by the United Nations’ Covid-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan. The pandemic has intensified needs while traditional donors are prioritizing domestic response efforts and facing severe economic stagnation. Conflicts are lasting longer, and humanitarian funding shortfalls are commonplace. Prior to the onset of Covid-19, unmet humanitarian needs presented a major challenge for traditional donors. China’s Evolving Role as a Humanitarian Donor Regardless, given the increased need and funding shortfalls, China’s increased spending is a welcome development, even as Chinese authorities are encouraged to be more transparent about their assistance, coherent in their approach, and coordinated with other donors and recipients. It remains unclear whether this increase represents a temporary spike or a transformational shift in the Chinese approach. ![]() The exact figure of Chinese spending on its pandemic assistance is difficult to determine due to China’s donor methodology and opacity surrounding its assistance, but experts assess China is on track to spend more on humanitarian aid in 2020 than ever before. While this assistance may not fit the principled, non-politicized definition of humanitarian aid used by many donors, it reflects how China thinks about short-term humanitarian action in the context of natural disasters and pandemics. China refers to these provisions as humanitarian assistance, differentiating them from existing development programs. In response to the spread of Covid-19, China has deployed medical teams and donated medical equipment to over 150 countries.
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