US and EU aid cuts see China’s star on the rise in Southeast Asia, report says

China’s role as Southeast Asia’s largest infrastructure financier is increasing its regional influence at a time when the United States and the European Union are slashing their foreign aid budgets, a new report by an Australian think tank said.
With the Trump administration in the United States scrapping about US$60 billion in aid and European countries pulling back more than US$25 billion, “the centre of gravity” in Southeast Asia’s development finance landscape “looks set to drift East,…