This was a very interesting read alongside
the article I linked below around USAID cuts and China's sphere of influence. East Timor was a Portuguese colony for centuries before it emerged as an independent state in 2002 after a brutal occupation by Indonesia. The Indonesian military quickly moved in after the Portuguese left in 1975—an invasion that the US had greenlighted and orchestrated. It's believe that nearly 200,000 were killed before an independence referendum was held in East Timor in 1999. The current president, José Ramos-Horta, lost 4 siblings and spent much of his early years in exile, lobbying for independence.
Today, East Timor's $2 billion economy remains heavily reliant on oil and gas revenue while it continues to develop its offshore gas field, called Greater Sunrise. Unfortunately, the revenue is not enough considering 40% of the population live in poverty.
Shortly after independence, China provided financial support for agriculture, food security and poverty. President Ramos-Horta shared that when he asked the Chinese ambassador for help in providing clean water, Chinese engineers arrived to the country to review water sources for irrigation and water supply before he had a chance to even leave for China. “The Chinese, they deliver very fast.”
I saw a lot of chatter online from folks in Sri Lanka about the impact of USAID cuts—Sri Lanka receives nearly $50 million and USAID is its largest donor. But what folks don't realize is that USAID is basically CIA— it exists to exert US national interests and influence in regions that are most hurting in exchange for some political/military gain and influence.
So while USAID might provide aid to train journalists on gender sensitivity or promote LGBTQ activism, it's all in exchange for compliance around proposed US milItary bases in Trincomalee, military training & intelligence (how to conduct genocides), coups/regime change interference, etc. When USAID is cut, so begins the game of courting alliances with China and India to bridge the aid gap, further isolating the US in the region. A lesson for Sri Lanka to reduce their reliance on foreign aid but to also look to other left-leaning nations in the global south who abandoned USAID years ago.
As the US loses its stronghold in these regions, it opens the doors for China and Russia—they've already seen success for their influence in countries throughout Africa. And after
Vance's insane talk at the Munich security conference, Europe is already finding ways to work together without the support of the US.
US imperialism, wars, and genocides are quite literally isolating the country from the rest of the world. Trump's presidency is only expediting the disasters of previous administrations. Do you think Xi Jinping and Putin could have ever imagined how easily they'd be able to exert influence in these regions as of late? Whew! To be a fly on the wall..
