Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Jan. 29: The U.S. State Department has announced a 90-day suspension of nearly all foreign development assistance, following an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in his first week in office. The directive, aimed at “assessment of programmatic efficiencies and consistency” with U.S. foreign policy, places over $60 billion in aid under assessment.
As part of the suspension, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued immediate “stop-work orders” for ongoing foreign assistance programs. While waivers have been granted for military financing to Israel and Egypt and emergency food aid, the broader pause impacts numerous aid recipients, including Tibetans consisting of stakeholders like the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), also known as the exile Tibetan government, aid organisations working for the Tibetan community, Taiwan, among many others.
Reliable sources have confirmed to Phayul that stakeholders have been informed by the US authorities of the executive order halting aid, for at least 90 days. The CTA has historically received U.S. assistance for cultural preservation and refugee support, as well as welfare projects. Although the CTA’s aid allocation is small, its inclusion in the aid freeze underscores the sweeping nature of the policy, which has also affected major recipients such as Ukraine ($17.19 billion), Israel ($3.3 billion), Jordan ($1.69 billion), and Egypt ($1.5 billion).
Observers note that the measure is not a targeted sanction against the CTA or Tibetans, but a consequence of the broader foreign aid review. Since Tibetan affairs and its portfolio has had strong bipartisan support over the years from the United States, the suspension of aid may be reversed following the 90-day review.
The suspension may disrupt key programs supporting Tibetan communities in exile, including welfare initiatives, educational scholarships, and socio-economic development projects. Despite multiple inquiries by Phayul, CTA officials declined to comment on the situation.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), a primary conduit for U.S. assistance to the CTA, has directed implementing partners to immediately suspend performance under the agreement awarded by USAID/India and to take all reasonable steps to minimise the incurrence of costs allowable to the agreement during the period of award suspensions.
Taiwan, a significant recipient of U.S. foreign military financing, is also affected by the suspension. In April 2024, the U.S. Senate approved a $2 billion aid package to bolster Taiwan’s Indo-Pacific security. However, the 90-day pause has raised concerns about the continuity of this support, with the State Department yet to clarify whether exemptions will be made. The uncertainty comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China, which has repeatedly called for Washington to halt military aid to Taiwan.
Analysts say the full implications of the suspension remain unclear, but the policy shift has introduced uncertainty for several key U.S. allies and aid recipients.
One Response
“Butterfly effect example in USAID financial aid to CTA and Tibetan diaspora”
There is a saying that the whole universe is connected and even when a butterfly flaps at some remote part of the world it can cause a storm at another part of the world.
The current situation when the USAID funding to CTA is frozen by the Trump administration which has affected many Tibetan beneficiaries in India and Nepal, can be traced back to the growing MAGA movement inside Tibetan diaspora in the west.
In the current political environment in the west where compassion and empathy is equivalent to being Woke leaves us a very fragile, brittle and bitter world.
On the same maxim let this be a small action from my side documenting the actions of some bitter Tibetans in the west who have ultimately harmed their own kind because they chose hateful rhetoric rather than the teachings of His Holiness. Tibetans in India should understand that some Tibetans in the west have digested their roots and are now working against the very interest they were supposed to protect.
May the current situation be resolved at earliest and may Tibetans in the west be blessed in wisdom and fill their hearts with teaching of H.Holiness.