Soft power Will USAid shutdown surrender ground to China?

Trump's shutdown of USAID has already had disastrous effects on humanitarian aid and development programs around the world, but it has also ceded ground to the US's chief rival, China, analysts have said.

- Helen Davidson and Amy Hawkins

The result of the sudden 90-day suspension of USAID funding - which accounts for 40% of global foreign aid has been chaos: employees locked out of offices, humanitarian shipments left to rot and lifesaving assistance stopped. Development programs previously assisted by USAID are panicking, warning of disastrous risks of escalating famine, death and disease.

Trump's plan involves the merger of the more than 60-year-old USAid into the State Department, shrinking its workforce and aligning its spending with his priorities. But analysts say it is working against one key priority-countering China.

"[The US is handing] on a silver platter to China the perfect opportunity to expand its influence, at a time when China's economy is not doing very well," said Prof Yanzhong Huang, senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations.

"What Trump is doing is basically providing China a perfect opportunity to rethink, to renew soft power projects, and get back on track to transglobal leadership."

More than one analyst described the shutdown of USAid as a "self-inflicted wound".

Global dynamics have been dominated by US-China competition and a key battlefront is in the development sector as Washington and its allies vie against Beijing for influence in the global south.