(Credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images)
A nonprofit that has long monitored and exposed the troubling conditions at Chinese electronics factories has lost most of its funding after President Trump suspended US foreign aid.
The group, China Labor Watch, has halted all labor investigations into the Chinese electronics supply chain, as it considers laying off staff members.
“About 90% of our funding comes from the US government. That funding has now been completely suspended, which has had a major impact on our operations,” the group told PCMag. “Essentially, our operational funds will not last more than a month, so we have no choice but to lay off staff or put employees on unpaid leave.”
The nonprofit is perhaps best known for its investigations into Apple’s supply chain in China, which has included Foxconn factories. But the group will no longer receive funds from the US State Department after Trump issued an executive order that paused foreign aid for 90 days.
Trump accuses the US foreign aid industry and bureaucracy of not aligning "with American interests and in many cases [being] antithetical to American values. They serve to destabilize world peace by promoting ideas in foreign countries that are directly inverse to harmonious and stable relations internal to and among countries."
As a result, his EO says "no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the President of the United States."
This has had a "devastating impact" on nonprofits, according to China Labor Watch’s founder Qiang Li. "With the suspension of US government funding, we face significant human rights challenges. Some of our collaborators, particularly Chinese nationals, are at risk of harm if they are forced to return to China,” he warned in an open letter to the Trump administration, which was posted on LinkedIn.
The nonprofit operates on a budget of about $1 million, while supporting “five US-based employees, two overseas staff, and seven consultants across the US, China, Indonesia, Serbia, and Malaysia,” he added. But due to the funding suspension, “only one part-time US employee remains on payroll, while others have been laid off or placed on unpaid leave,” Li said.
"This means we are unable to support workers in forced labor conditions; as much as it impacts on our organization’s staff, it hurts the workers even more,” he added in his open letter. The group is now looking for new funding sources.
The Trump administration also dismantled the US Agency for International Development (USAID), accusing it—without evidence—of wasteful spending and fraud. This has shut down or disrupted numerous other groups, ranging from soup kitchens in Sudan to a malaria vaccine study in Britain, along with many global clinics, according to The New York Times.
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