The US promised $ 2 million for the Myanmar earthquake, but China has filled the emptiness

As a US expert team to Myanmar to help the recovery of a devastating earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people in Southeast Asia on Friday, the international team, including those from China and Russia, filled the emptiness in US absence.

The US said on Monday that they would give $ 2 million in assistance and small agents for the International Development Emergency Response Team had been deployed to assess the situation in Myanmar, but officials said that they could not enter the country on Monday morning.

While the number of dollars from initial assistance is in line with what the US promised in the past, the overall response rate was slower. After the 2023 earthquake at Morrocco, for example, the USAID disaster assistance response team was deployed only a few hours later, although Morrocco finally did not ask for arrows.

In the same year when Libya experienced a flood of disaster, arrows were deployed on the same day. And when a large earthquake hit Türkiye and Syria in the same year, the Dart team was also launched only a few hours after the disaster reached. In both cases, arrows need a few days to reach the ground.

The US response came in the midst of President Donald Trump’s efforts to make the federal government back and dismantle USAIDs, dismiss thousands of employees, revoke funds for more than 80% of its programs and close their head office, even though the effort was being challenged in several court cases.

On Friday, the Department of State announced officially closing the agency and took over “many USAID functions and sustainable programming.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs has pushed back the assessment that USAID’s deduction has limited the earthquake response, but officials say there are at least several logistics impacts caused by reorganization, rather than lack of funds.

“I will refuse this idea is clearly the result of cutting USAID and such funds,” said Spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs Tammy Bruce on Monday. “We must be in this region.”

Meanwhile, the Chinese team that arrived 18 hours after the earthquake and more than 400 Chinese personnel were now on the land in the region. Beijing sent a full plane with inventory, providing $ 14 million. China also has many teams in Thailand.

This is a propaganda victory for China, showing it can be a reliable partner when his neighbor is in a crisis.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning on Monday was posted on x photos and videos of Chinese workers on the ground, saved survivors and giving supplies, saying, “China, a friend in need.”

On the site where a 34 -story building collapsed on Sunday in Bangkok, a group of US military personnel came and went from the search area throughout Monday. The American team worked with Israeli soldiers to sit to survive, sending drones to areas that were too dangerous to be achieved by rescue workers.

“We learned a lot from America, and they brought a lot of good equipment,” said Choktong Issarangkool, one of the volunteers in the rescue and search team that also acted as a translator for the American team.

Thais are grateful for American assistance, something that has been accustomed to following natural disasters: The US aid team has always been the first on the field to help.

Foreign department officials said the discussion about a broader response to the earthquake was ongoing, including the possibility of sending a Dart team, although it might be smaller than in previous efforts.

“Our disaster experts, including those based in Bangkok, Manila and Washington, DC, continue to monitor the situation with coordination with US government colleagues in the region,” Bruce said.

He stressed that $ 2 million initial support will be applied through partner organizations that have worked in affected areas.