RS22663. Authorize. Authorize. Authorize. Politicians 'Insulted' by Foreign Aid to China. House lawmakers on Tuesday turned anti-Chinese sentiments against the federal agency responsible for allocating $4 million in U.S. funds for environmental initiatives in China, the largest foreign holder of U.S. debt.
Despite the relatively small amount of money going to China in aid this year, Republicans and Democrats bashed the programs during a hearing before the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Asia and Pacific panel, calling them a "giant mistake of thinking" by the State Department and "an insult" to taxpayers in America. State's foreign aid programs have been in the crosshairs recently among lawmakers and presidential hopefuls, especially given the nation's $14 trillion government debt. Republican frontrunner former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has been targeting China in particular as an example of misguided taxpayer funding.
"This galls me: We give 10 million dollars in foreign aid a year to China," Romney said during a speech earlier this month. 78316-billions-in-foreign-aid-goes-to-china. In 2008, China spent more than $40 billion dollars on the Beijing Olympics.
It also holds more than a trillion dollars of foreigndebt, and has been investing heavily overseas through its state-owned companies. So, many have wondered why the world’s fastest growing economy is getting $2.5 billion dollars in foreign aid each year, from countries like the US who actually owe money to China. Most foreignaid to China is geared towards combating poverty, building infrastructure in rural areas, or aiding various human rights campaigns.
[Romilly Greenhill, Research Fellow on Aid, ODI]: (Female, English) “There's a lot of poverty in china and a large proportion of the poor people in the world are living in China.