NO ONE ELSE CAN MAKE UP THE SHORTFALL
Expecting international institutions and massive foundations to fill financing gaps left by USAID is also fraught. The Trump administration’s cuts to international aid deals have greatly impacted the skill of disaster-response groups run by the United Nations and organisations like International Rescue Committee to provide important food, medication and supplies to effected parts of Myanmar.  ,
However, US allies in the Indo-Pacific are feeling pressure to fill the gaps the US has left on. South Korea has previously pledged US$ 2 million in humanitarian assistance via international institutions supporting disaster recovery work, and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has promised to provide all possible help.
Today, Japan and South Korea provide 13 per cent and 9 per cent of the annual aid directed to Southeast Asia, respectively. But, like the US, Japan and South Korea are dealing with their own economic woes and turmoil at home, and they are not in the position to backfill the millions provided by USAID to the region each year. In Japan, public support for expanding economic development assistance has fallen to the weakest level in the past decade.
While China won’t step in to replace America’s aid profile, its swift response to the Myanmar earthquake provides us with a glance into a future where it plays an expanded role in Southeast Asia’s development landscape on its own terms.  ,
The Trump administration promised an” America First” approach to foreign policy, but by gutting USAID, it has significantly weakened American soft power and opened the door for expanded Chinese influence and leverage in Southeast Asia.
Bryanna Entwistle is a Press and Program Officer at Asia Society Policy Institute in New York.