UK to suspend aid money to China, Russia
- Source: Global Times
- [02:24 June 18 2010]
- Comments
By Sun Wei in London and Liu Dong in Beijing
The UK will suspend allocating aid money to China and Russia, diverting it instead to the world's most underdeveloped nations, the British government said Wednesday.
Britain will reduce the number of nations that have received the aid and will initiate a reassessment of Britain's annual funds of 2.9 billion pounds ($4.3 billion) worldwide, according to Andrew Mitchell, secretary of the Department for International Development (DFID).
The DFID is one section of the UK government that administers the nation's aid to underdeveloped countries.
Ed Hawkesworth, senior press officer of the DFID, told the Global Times that both China and Russia are "large emerging economies, which are both moving into the situation where they are aid donors in their own rights."
"We want to move to a new relationship where we are partners," Hawkesworth said.
In 2008-09, the aid given to China topped 40 million pounds ($59 million), while Russia took $281,276.
"It is not justifiable to continue to give aid money to China and Russia," International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said.
Yang Fang, a researcher at the Institute of European Studies at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times that "the move signals the British government's refashioning of its China policy; the newly established coalition government has re-evaluated China's role in the international arena."
"The whole of Europe is virtually readjusting polices toward China, and renowned experts on Chinese affairs have deemed that the China-assistance programs have failed to reflect China's phenomenal transformations," Yang said.
Mitchell said that "other countries' programs that are less effective will be closed or reduced, and the savings will be redirected toward those countries where they can make the most difference."
The redirected money will be used for poverty-reduction initiatives to boost maternal health, women's rights to family planning and protection against deadly diseases, according to the DFID.
"Overseas aid has been a diplomatic tool utilized by the British government to boost its international influence," Yang said. "The assistance still amounts to 0.7 percent of gross national income, despite plans to cut deficits and reduction of aid to certain countries, which indicates that the conventional tool will not be changed."
