Why is China so stingy with its aid money?
China's callous response to the Philippines typhoon shows that it all comes down to politics
When images of the destruction in the Philippines wreaked by Super Typhoon Haiyan were broadcast across the world last week, the international community rushed forward with generous offers of aid. The U.S. pledged $20 million and mobilized an aircraft carrier for the relief effort. Britain promised $16 million and sent a warship. The Vatican dispatched $4 million, Japan $10 million, and Ireland $1.4 million.
As for China, the neighborhood's superpower and the world's second-largest economy? It initially offered a measly $100,000. Following a storm of bad publicity — TIME's Hanna Beech called the donation mean-spirited, and even China's nationalist Global Times newspaper said in an editorial that the offer was too small — Beijing upped its donation to $1.6 million. That's still less than the $2.7 million pledged by the charitable wing of Swedish furniture giant Ikea.
For China, that skimpy donation was a way of showing its disapproval with the Philippines. The two countries have sparred repeatedly in the past year over tiny islands in the South China Sea that both nations claim as their own, with China staking its maritime claim by blocking Filipino fishermen from contested waters. In retaliation, the Philippines this year accepted a gift of naval vessels from China's regional rival Japan, and invited the U.S. to reopen some bases that closed in the 1990s.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"People assume that the world sets aside its political wrangling and help each other out at times of disaster," Lucy Easthope, a disaster-management expert at Britain's University of Lincoln, told The Independent. "It isn't like that at all. It almost always comes with strings attached. It's hugely political."
But China may have made chosen the wrong political strategy here. By choosing to use aid as a means of punishment, China missed an opportunity to win over hearts and minds and soothe tensions — which is how the U.S. has approached past humanitarian efforts.
In the wake of the December 2004 Asian tsunami, for instance, the U.S. pumped aid into hard-hit Indonesia and deployed military personnel to help with the relief effort. Before that natural disaster, just 15 percent of people in Indonesia — the world's most populous Muslim nation — had a positive view of the U.S. By the following summer, the U.S. approval rating had more than doubled to 40 percent.
"I was very surprised," said Kenneth Ballen, president of U.S. organization Terror Free Tomorrow. "In a year that's included Koran desecration [at Guantanamo Bay] and the ongoing war in Iraq, you'd think support would have fallen."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
But there are limits to what disaster relief can achieve. Following a devastating October 2005 earthquake in northern Pakistan, the U.S. provided more than $500 million in aid and deployed Chinook helicopters to help rescue victims. A spring 2006 survey showed only a modest uptick in views of the U.S., with 27 percent of Pakistanis giving the U.S. a positive rating, up from 23 percent the previous year.
However, by spring 2007, U.S. favorability had slipped to 15 percent. Ultimately, U.S. aid was not enough to overcome many Pakistanis' deep suspicion of U.S. motives, as well as their opposition to the war in neighboring Afghanistan.
In the end, the damage caused by China's miserliness will likely be "remarkably small," Steve Tsang, a China expert at Britain's University of Nottingham, told the Associated Press. But that's only because most countries in the region have such a negative view of the People's Republic of China that they never expected any sudden displays of generosity from Beijing. That opinion is not likely to change any time soon.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Theunis Bates is a senior editor at The Week's print edition. He has previously worked for Time, Fast Company, AOL News and Playboy.
-
Indie film's 'very brief' use of AI sparks backlash and calls for boycotts
Talking Points Did the creators of a new horror movie make a deal with the artificial intelligence devil?
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Could Taylor Swift swing the election?
Today's Big Question The pop star has outsized influence — and that extends beyond the music industry
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold Published
-
Kevin Hart awarded Mark Twain Prize
Speed Read He is the 25th recipient of the prestigious comedy prize
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
Xi-Biden meeting: what's in it for both leaders?
Today's Big Question Two superpowers seek to stabilise relations amid global turmoil but core issues of security, trade and Taiwan remain
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Will North Korea take advantage of Israel-Hamas conflict?
Today's Big Question Pyongyang's ties with Russia are 'growing and dangerous' amid reports it sent weapons to Gaza
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published