Analysts say that with the United States preparing humanitarian aid in Southeast Asia, its rival may see an opportunity to expand its influence in a region that has made billions of dollars in investment and assistance.

Within a little more than three weeks since the opening of US President Donald Trump, Washington has freezes almost all external aid and has moved to the UK Development Agency effectively canceling (USAID), a long source of soft power in the region.

The US Agency for International Development, the largest firm of US foreign aid, spent $ 860 million in Southeast Asia alone last year, by financing projects on everything from HIV treatment to preserving biological diversity and promoting local governance.

Many projects, which are essentially going through the granting of local NGOs, are facing an uncertain future as the Trump administration restores the United States from the global theater as part of its “First America” ​​fetus.

For Beijing, Yanchong Huang, a curator of global health in the Council of Foreign Relations, said for Beijing, the conditions provide an ideal opportunity for her to intervene.

“The suspension of health, education and humanitarian programs – the main columns of American soft power – may create a vacuum that China can fill,” Huang told the island of the island.

“This strategic decline can enhance the effect of Beijing throughout the region, especially in the current American aid recipients such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar and Cambodia.”

Since the Trump administration generates headlines with its moves to the United States Agency for International Development last week, Beijing issued news by interfering with $ 4.4 million to finance the mining removal project in Cambodia that left in Washington.

Hing Ratana, head of the Cambodian Mine Work Center, told the Khometer Times that Chinese aid will help his organization remove more than 3,400 hectares (8400 acres) of land filled with landmines and uncomplicated regulatory.

China embassies in the United States, Cambodia and Thailand, did not respond to Al Jazeera requests to comment.

Joshua Cornelzik, an older colleague of South Asia and South Asia in the Council of Foreign Relations, said that the US Agency for International Development has the demise of the American influence in the region in general and with China expanding its general diplomacy.

Coranezek said that Southeast Asian leaders are concerned about “making chaotic policy” in the United States.

“Beijing is already photographing the United States already as unable and unable to lead at the regional or global level, and I expect Beijing to increase its help and invest in many parts of the developing world,” Cornelzik told “An island”.

While the future of many of the US Agency for International Development in the region is unclear, some analysts believe that China is likely to leave projects with more political or ideological concentration for other partners to the region, such as the European Union, Australia, Japan or Asian Development, Bank, Bank Manila -based regional development.

“The international aid or international development program in China is very large. But it happens that it is completely different from what the United States Agency for International Development does as it seems that the latter is devoting a lot of resources for ideological -based initiatives, for democracy, for gay, for diversity For inclusiveness, climate change, “John Gong, a professor of economics at the University of Business and International Economy in Beijing, told Al Jazerera.

“Whether China will enter into the vacuum that the United States evacuated, I am very skeptical. We are talking about different things here. In addition, I don’t think the Chinese government is keen to compete with Washington for this front.”

China’s external assistance has been greatly directed towards infrastructure, as shown in the Belt and Roads Initiative (BRI), the project’s leading infrastructure project in Beijing is estimated at more than $ 1 trillion.

Other projects, such as a hospital peace ship, provided medical assistance.

Almost all Chinese external aid has taken almost to Southeast Asia-about 85 percent-non-local loans with a focus on energy and transportation, according to Grace Steanop, a researcher at the Indian Development Center and the Pacific of the Institute.

Steanop told Beijing’s infrastructure that made it a clear presence in the region, although it was not always a viewer. High speed railway in Indonesia.

Some critics have referred to these and other projects as a form of diplomatic “debt text” aimed at generating dependence on China, and he denied Beijing’s charge.

In a survey conducted by the Yusuf Ishak Institute, which is based in Singapore, has chosen 59.5 percent of respondents in 10 Southeast Asian countries that China is more economical in the region.

However, more than half of them expressed China’s lack of confidence, with 45.5 percent, fearing that China could threaten its country economically or militarily. Japan was seen as the “most trusted” force, followed by the United States and the European Union.

Although heavily focused on infrastructure, China slowly tries to transform the aid model towards more “soft” aid such as public health, agriculture and digitization. Singapore.

“The extent of Chinese aid, of course, will depend on China’s economic ability, as it faces restrictions such as slowing growth and commercial tensions with Washington, which may limit its ability to replace US aid completely,” Lin told Jazeera.

Lynn said that Southeast Asian countries prefer a “diverse approach” for external assistance and developmental assistance that does not depend on one donor – whether it is the United States or China.

Despite its prominent presence in Southeast Asia, China has retracted its development assistance in the region in recent years.

While China was the best donor in the region from 2015 to 2019, it has since slipped to fourth, according to the Louis Institute.

The financing has dried up, as it decreased from 10 billion dollars in 2017 to 3 billion dollars in 2022, according to the research tank.

Steve Pala, associate professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, said China is facing its own problems at home, including slowing economic growth and high unemployment for youth, which can limit its focus on affairs abroad.

“Local issues may work to limit [Chinese President Xi Jinping’s] Attention to international affairs. The problems of the belt and the road may limit the system options for how to interfere in the areas left by the United States. “

Bethani Allen, head of the Chinese investigation and analysis program at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, has expressed a similar feeling.

“China is already benefiting from the American association in Trump’s first era by deepening its economic, diplomatic and cultural influence in Southeast Asia. Allen told Al Jazyera, referring to a global program to promote the study of Chinese and culture, and a forum to promote to promote to promote promotion to promote promotion to promote promotion To study the Chinese language, the forum to promote to promote a study, “initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative, Confucius, and Lancang-Mickeg Cooperation Mechanism. Cooperation between China and Mekong Sub

“However, economic growth in China means slowing bri, which leads to the country’s soft energy project less aggressive than in the past decade. High -level debt fears and a decline against Chinese influence [in Malaysia and Indonesia] Also reduce its appeal.