Continuous cuts in foreign aid by Western governments such as the United States may aggravate a power imbalance between Southeast Asia and China, according to findings from a study on the region’s approach to China’s aid.
The study also found that countries had different strategies for accepting aid from Beijing. Southeast Asian states with acute development needs and constrained access to development financing, such as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, were found to be the most reliant on China.
The findings, released on March 26, came from the report “Hedging bets: Southeast Asia’s approach to China’s aid” by Lowy Institute’s analysts Alexandre Dayant and Grace Stanhope.
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