Introduction
No country is expected to exist without the help of another country. Hence, countries usually exchange foreign aids in order to help each other meet their respective challenges. At present, developing countries rely greatly on foreign aids provided by richer countries. One of such developing countries is China. Due to the dynamics of war and politics in China for the past few decades, particularly during and immediately after the Second World War and the Cold War, it is an interesting subject for understanding the distribution of foreign aid during times of war and peace. After, analyzing the distribution of foreign aid in China, it is inferred that during the times of war or threats of war, the bulk of foreign aids are unevenly distributed so that they are mostly allotted for security and defense purposes. During the times of peace, however, the foreign aids are more evenly distributed to affect more people, positively. Nevertheless, there controversies as to how the foreign aid are actually spent.
During Wars, Immediately After Wars, and Time of Peace
During the times of war, particularly during WWII, China was receiving foreign aid from the United States. The US has its national interest in China and it wants to quell Japanese influence in the said country. Hence, the US sends economic and military aid to then US-backed Chinese government. Interestingly, during the said war, the communist party of China was gaining a massive support from the Chinese public, because of gripping poverty. The war with the Japanese made it necessary that the wealth and the aid provided by western countries be concentrated towards military spending to quell Japanese forces. It is due to this uneven distribution and the continuous communist intervention that led the majority of the Chinese accept communism and oust the US-backed government forming the People’s Republic of China.
It can be argued that the US foreign aid provided to Nationalist China during and after the cold war were not wisely spent, as the nationalist party was forced to go out of mainland China into a country/province now known as Taiwan. Mainland China became communist and has been considered a continuous threat to US-type democracy and free trade (Encyclopedia of the New American Nation, 2017).
After the Sino-Japanese war, mainland China was not still at peace and it needed to fend continuously foreign invaders and influence. As a communist country, it sided with the Soviet Union during the cold war. In reciprocating this alliance, the Soviet Union provided foreign aid to China. The majority of the foreign aid with a total monetary value of $250 million came in the form of military supply, however. Hence, the distribution of this foreign aid was again uneven as it benefitted almost entire the military wing of the Chinese communist government (Anne, 1996).
Interestingly, some of the foreign aid was also used during the Korean War, where China backed the communist regime on North Korea versus the Democratic South Korea. It can be seen from this particular use of foreign aid that, China, viewed from the communist perspective has been spending the foreign aid wisely. But from the western perspective, the foreign aid should have been spent more wisely in ending poverty and strengthening democracy within mainland China.
Another important point to consider is that after the second Sino-Japanese war, the Second World War, and the Cold War, China continued to receive foreign aid from diverse nations including, from Russia, the US, and Japan – its former enemy. Just recently, in 2014, the US has sent China a foreign aid amounting to $12.3 million, and another $6.8 million in 2015. The US has sent the said amount to aid China in mitigating pollution production and its effects, and for revitalizing democracy program (Howell, 2015).
Critiques of the said aid argue that there is no way for the US to measure; hence, monitor the effects of the said aid. This means that the US has very little or no way of determining whether the aid is indeed allotted to its respective end goals (Anderson, 1999). Nevertheless, theoretically, if the aid has been allocated in accordance to how it was planed to be allocated, it is safe to say that it is an even distribution because it tends to benefit almost all Chinese citizens equally; more so, if the Chinese people are pro-democracy (Collier & Hoeffler, 2004). This is still questionable, though, because China is still a communist nation.
China, at present also receives foreign aid from Japan yearly, amounting to $1.2 billion. China also receives almost half of the said amount from countries like Germany, France, and the United Kingdom With regards to the Japanese foreign aid, the said amount is mostly dedicated to reparations for the problems it has caused China during WWII and Sino-Japanese wars (Keiting, 2010).. Germany and the rest of the western countries, on the other hand aim their aid to help alleviate poverty and aid democracy in China. Again, in the absence of war, the foreign aids given by western nations tend to be more evenly allocated compared to foreign aids given during war time. Nevertheless, there are also concerns on how the foreign aids are being spent in China. Many critiques believe that China is not using the said foreign aids in their intended use, but are used instead in strengthening the communist grip to the government, even in sponsoring dictatorship (Gutteridge, 2015).
Conclusion
Foreign aid given to China during and immediately after WWII, Sino-Japanese War, and the Cold War were mostly dedicated to military spending. While such manner of spending may seem negative from the western perspective, the reverse is true for communist China as the communist party was able to keep its powers and even influence the outcome of wars in other nations such as Korea. With regards to modern foreign aid or aid provided in the state of peace, if western critiques are to be assumed correct, then the foreign aid is spent and distributed incorrectly because it does not end-up in its intended goals.
References
Anderson, M. B. (1999). Do no harm: how aid can support peace-or war. NY: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Anne W. C. (1996). Who Lost China?. Retrieved from www.ewtn com/library/.
Collier, P., & Hoeffler, A. (2004). Aid, policy and growth in post-conflict societies. European economic review,48(5), 1125-1145.
Encyclopedia of the New American Nation. (2017). Foreign aid – the Cold War foreign aid program, 1947 – 1953. Retrieved from http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/E-N/Foreign-Aid-The-cold-war-foreign-aid-program-1947-1953.html.
Gutteridge, N. (2015). Foreign aid scandal: Iran, China, Zimbabwe.. why is YOUR cash given to foreign dictators? Retrieved from http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/626700/UK-foreign-aid-India-China-Zimbabwe-foreign-dictators-Tory-Government-cuts-Cameron.
Howell, K. (2015). US sends China millions of foreign aid despite 1.3 trillion debt. Retrieved from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/12/us-sends-china-millions-in-foreign-aid-despite-13-/
Keiting, J. (2010). Japan sends China 1.2 billion aid every year. Retrieved from http://foreignpolicy.com/2010/09/28/japan-sends-china-1-2-billion-in-aid-every-year/.
