U.S. foreign-aid suspension is making scrutiny of China even harder

Funding freeze rocks nonprofits that collected increasingly scarce information in a country that Trump has deemed a competitor

- Chun Han Wong

China, the world's second-largest economy, is already one of the most impenetrable countries. Now, the Trump administration's move to suspend foreign aid is starting to derail nonprofit efforts to unearth data on business and social trends—which was already hard to track.

Nonprofits cited halts to funding from U.S. institutions including the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the National Endowment for Democracy.

Activists and nonprofit executives say the shutdown—led by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency—is forcing nongovernment organizations to suspend or stop their research on everything from human-rights abuses to socioeconomic indicators prized by foreign businesses.

One nonprofit has suspended efforts to collect data on public dissent and worker unrest—information that investors and academics have mined for clues on China's economic health and social stability. Some activists say they are cutting research on Chinese supply chains, disrupting work that has helped foreign companies and consumers navigate legal and ethical concerns over the alleged use of forced labor.

Other NGOs are dialing back efforts to track the Communist Party's suppression of speech and religious freedoms, and worry that they may have to cease contact with Chinese activists, independent journalists and whistleblowers who share information that Beijing tries to suppress. Also at risk are think-tank studies on Chinese cyber threats and foreign-influence operations, which have uncovered potentially malicious activities that democratic governments around the world are trying to thwart.