The Trump administration’s foreign aid freeze may have inadvertently revealed the identities of anti-authoritarian activists in China, possibly jeopardizing their safety and efficacy, sources who have worked closely with pro-democracy groups in China told the Washington Examiner.
Chaos gripped the National Endowment for Democracy in early February when Elon Musk’s Department for Government Efficiency ordered the Treasury Department to block its congressionally appropriated funding.
“It’s been a bloodbath,” one staffer said at the time. “We have not been able to meet payroll and pay basic overhead expenses.”
NED long enjoyed bipartisan support as one of America’s premier mechanisms to counter Chinese Communist Party influence in China and other nations. Musk has extensive business ties to China and has expressed his support for the country.
The International Republican Institute and the National Democratic Institute, two other groups largely dependent on public funding that work to counter Chinese influence, also saw their operations hamstrung by DOGE’s cuts. IRI and NDI receive most of their funding either directly from the federal government or indirectly from the government through NED.
NED, IRI, and NDI work with local partners in authoritarian nations such as China to provide them with money and other support so the partners can more effectively advocate against those repressive regimes. Because of this, many foreign anti-authoritarian activists are largely dependent on U.S. funding, and when that funding is cut off, their operations risk closure and the source of their support becomes clear.
“The partners that we had in China were taking on cases of individuals who were having their rights violated, who had land taken away illegally, or any other number of similar things,” one person who worked closely with these organizations told the Washington Examiner. “The partners took care to keep the source of their funding private. But when all of the funding stopped all at once, and they had to stop all of their projects, because the coverage of the freeze in China was so extensive, it was very easy for connections to be made. And so our partners have reported to us that they have been getting questions [from Chinese authorities] of, you know, was this work in fact being funded by the U.S.?”
The source pointed out that dissidents in China can face “very negative repercussions,” and the source added that they were flooded with worried messages from their foreign partners in the hours following the Trump administration’s foreign spending freeze.
Another source with a similar degree of familiarity who spoke to the Washington Examiner shared concerns that the U.S. spending freeze could endanger anti-CCP activists in China but pointed out that, in some cases, these groups haven’t yet run out of funding.
Indeed, the groups dependent on the U.S. for financing that still have some cash in reserve may have won a lifeline as the State Department partially restored access to NED’s congressionally appropriated funding on Monday.
“To conduct a thorough and complete review, and to keep our obligation to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely, consistent with President Trump’s Executive Order, Secretary Rubio directed the pause of all State and USAID foreign assistance for 90 days,” a State Department spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. “This is not about ending foreign aid but restructuring assistance to serve U.S. interests, and to be sure the money spent on aid programs actually reaches people in need. Programs that serve the national interest will continue.”
Even if public funding for NED and similar groups returns to normal levels, which is by no means guaranteed, sources familiar told the Washington Examiner that a lot of harm has already been done.
“I think the damage is already very real,” a source who has worked with these overseas groups said.
One such source pointed out that many organizations they work with in China have already furloughed or cut staff members, and some may have already found new jobs. Replacing these activists, the source said, could prove difficult and thus empower China.
“I think that there are risks for the recruiting, for sure, because many organizations, if they’re on the ground in China, of course, there’s a huge amount of inherent risk involved,” the source explained. “And so, if that’s kind of one thing that, you know, if the funding dries up, people can’t do the work.”
Two sources the Washington Examiner spoke with said that, in addition to staffing concerns, America’s credibility with foreign pro-democracy activists is also at issue.
“I mean, these are people who are really risking their security, their safety. Even if they’re in a secure location like the United States, they’re still very much subjected to transnational repression,” one source said. “So by interacting with us, they are showing a certain degree of faith and trust. And unfortunately, [the funding freeze] is damaging it needlessly.”
EXPERTS WARN THAT TRUMP’S FOREIGN AID PIVOT COULD BE A BOON FOR CHINA
Multiple sources maintained that while global trust in America may have declined as a result of the spending maneuver, institutional trust built by groups including NED, IRI, and NID remains, which serves to mitigate some of the damage.
Damaged trust and the dearth of funding could make foreign civil society organizations turn toward China for support, expanding the CCP’s influence in the countries where they operate, one source who has worked with similar groups told the Washington Examiner.
The fear isn’t merely hypothetical, according to the source. They recounted having one partner who had posted about their funding problems on LinkedIn only to be contacted shortly thereafter by a CCP agent offering to help resolve the problem. News outlets have reported numerous similar instances of China pouncing on countries affected by the U.S. spending freeze and seeking to expand its influence.
The State Department spokesperson agreed that China’s “economic diplomacy is inherently predatory.” To counter this, the State Department will make partner nations aware of the “state-sponsored theft of intellectual property and economic espionage” that often come along with Chinese funding.
“The recent termination of programs countering Chinese influence across Asia and the Pacific is handing China a strategic victory,” an organization that has long worked in the region told the Washington Examiner. “It’s a direct threat to America’s national security and prosperity. These initiatives weren’t simply about supporting democracy abroad; they served as critical lines of defense for protecting U.S. economic and military interests.”
The group claims that the U.S. funding freeze not only led to the termination of efforts to protect American businesses by improving the transparency of Chinese loan agreements but also cut off support to pro-democracy activists, strengthened Chinese propaganda networks by curtailing alternative sources of information, and made it easier for China to manipulate electoral systems.
“Without pushback from the U.S., China faces fewer obstacles in expanding its influence, securing military footholds, and gaining economic leverage that threatens American interests,” the organization continued. “A weaker U.S. presence in the region emboldens China and makes Americans less safe, less prosperous, and more vulnerable to Chinese military and economic power. The longer this continues, the harder it will be to reverse course.”