More on Proposal to Gut the State Department

 The Associated Press published on 15 April 2025 an article titled "DOGE Associate Is Made Acting Head of Foreign Assistance at the State Department, a US Official Says" by Ellen Knickmeyer and Matthew Lee.

The Office of Management and Budget is recommending major cuts in State Department funding that, if approved, would have the effect of gutting many of its functions.  The proposal must still be vetted within the administration and then go to Congress for approval.  

Estimating China's Foreign Aid

The Japan International Cooperation Agency Research Institute published on 27 September 2019 a paper titled "Estimating China's Foreign Aid: 2017-2018 Preliminary Figures" by Naohiro Kitano.

The paper provides revised and updated estimates of net and gross disbursements of China's global foreign aid from 2001 to 2018. China's net foreign aid is estimated to have increased from $4.9 billion in 2014 to $6.4 billion in 2018, mainly due to an increase in grants and interest-free loans. The report does not indicate where the aid goes but historically about 50 percent of China's global aid has gone to Africa.