Even before the Trump administration’s suspension of U.S. government funding for democracy and human rights projects as part of its freeze on foreign assistance, the American philanthropic sector had already largely abandoned the cause of human rights and democratic reform in China. In the 1990s, the Ford Foundation had a robust program supporting civil society, civil and criminal legal reform, and marginalized communities in China but has since moved away from a strong rights-based focus. As part of a reorganization, the Open Society Foundations has shifted its work to thematic areas as opposed to doubling down on closed societies, such as China.
This retreat comes at a time when Xi Jinping’s rule is marked by growing repression and totalitarian rule that extends beyond China’s borders as PRC agents intimidate and harass activists and ordinary citizens in the United States and other countries.
Because of the private philanthropic sector’s neglect, the U.S. government’s funding suspension is causing a crisis among groups working to nurture political reform, with some civil society groups in China at risk of extinction. Private foundations and philanthropic institutions are missing an opportunity to support China’s human rights defenders, independent religious groups (such as unregistered house churches), bloggers calling for democratic reform, independent media, and ethnic minority groups, such as Tibetans and Uyghurs.
Even foundations with missions that would be well-served by a focus on promoting an independent civil society as well as democratic and accountable governance in China neglect the crucial need to foster political liberalization. For example, the Gates Foundation, which focuses primarily on health inequity and poverty in China, has shied away from addressing the foundational role that accountable and transparent governance plays in implementing sound public health policies and delivering sustainable development. Instead, they fund projects that support parts of the Chinese government’s efforts to spread its international influence, such as a $1.6 million project for Tsinghua University to “establish a center of excellence for advocacy communications in global health and global development.”
This kind of approach not only risks supporting China’s global sway, including spreading authoritarian governance practices, but it also forgets the Chinese government’s efforts to squelch early warnings of the virus that would become known as COVID-19. In one poignant example, Dr. Li Wenliang, who was brought in for questioning after warning a private chat group about an emerging virus in Wuhan, ended up dying from the disease.
Failing to support democratic values in China will end up harming U.S. interests. The Chinese party-state under Xi Jinping has become increasingly antagonistic toward the United States despite U.S. support for economic development and the inclusion of the PRC in the international community ever since the late 1970s. This animosity has even been expressed by Xi himself; in 2023, he stated that “Western countries led by the United States have contained and suppressed us in an all-round way.”
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is also hostile toward democratic ideals. CCP Document No. 9, a leaked party directive, warned that ideas such as “the separation of three powers, a multiparty system, a system of universal suffrage, independent judiciary, [and] a military belonging to the nation” are all threats to the CCP regime.
Nurturing respect for human rights and democratic reform in China aligns with U.S. national interests and long-standing U.S. values. The U.S. intelligence community’s annual threat assessment names China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea – all authoritarian states – as specific threats to U.S. national security. The PRC government benefits from censoring dissident voices and controlling the media because it allows them to malign the U.S. and distort the United States’ role in the world.
Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan understood the necessity of supporting dissidents behind the Iron Curtain and promoting democratic ideals as an important Cold War policy tool. It was under his tenure that the United States established the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a nonpartisan grant-making institution. The impact of this kind of proactive and pragmatic funding is confirmed by the International Center for Nonviolent Conflict’s research, which finds that training and educating activists in closed societies, especially in non-violent resistance, results in more lasting and successful democratic breakthroughs. Yet the NED’s congressional appropriation is facing scrutiny under the new administration.
Instead of tackling dictatorial rule in China, the American philanthropic sector has adopted a fatalistic approach that assumes political reform is not possible or that their only option is to collaborate with the Chinese government. This pessimism does not consider the historical record, where democratic breakthroughs were often preceded by times of despair where political liberalization seemed unlikely. Private foundations and philanthropic organizations should pivot and put financial backing behind civil society groups working to combat PRC repression, including the detention and imprisonment of human rights lawyers, house church pastors, and ethnic Uyghurs and Tibetans.
The investment needed to support this work is manageable for many deep-pocketed philanthropic actors, as a budget of even $5 million by a handful of donors would do much to sustain this work. This is not an impossible task: the Ford Foundation’s annual budget for China is $12 million annually and the Gates Foundation has pledged $50 million over five years for a Global Health Drug Discovery Institute, a collaboration between the Beijing Municipal Government and Tsinghua University.
As it stands, the American philanthropic sector is missing important opportunities to fund independent voices and courageous political activism. For example, veteran reporter Vivian Wu, who started the media outlet Dasheng (meaning “mighty voice”) seeks to get independent news to Chinese citizens. As sources of funding have dwindled, Wu, who previously worked for BBC, uses personal savings to fund her analysis and posts on social media and YouTube.
Her case is not unique. Civil society groups that were already operating on shoestring budgets now face the risk of folding because of the suspension of U.S. foreign assistance. Some of these groups played a crucial role in bringing to light not only egregious violations of Uyghur rights, including the forced sterilization of women in detention camps, but also the use of forced labor for Chinese exports emerging from the Uyghur region.
Even if the U.S. government decides to permanently reduce foreign assistance, the American private sector can work to realize Reagan’s vision that the country should be a “city upon a hill” and Woodrow Wilson’s declaration that America “should make the world safe for democracy.” Before he died in police custody, Nobel Peace Prize Winner Liu Xiaobo expressed this view when he wrote, “I have viewed the West as if it were not only the salvation of China but also the natural and ultimate destination of all humanity.” If the government and private donors both fail to rise to the occasion, it will represent an abdication of responsibility not only to U.S. citizens, but to those overseas who look to the United States for inspiration and hope.