US pledges $2 million for Myanmar quake, but China already filled the void

As an American team of experts, he heads to Myanmar to support the recovery from the devastating earthquake, killing over 2,000 people in Southeast Asia on Friday, international teams, including those from China and Russia, fill the void in the absence of the United States.

The United States said on Monday that it would provide $ 2 million aid and a small international development agency for emergency response to evaluate the Myanmar situation, but officials said it had not yet been able to enter the country on Monday morning.

While the amount of initial aid in the dollar is in line with what the US has promised in the past, the total rate of the answer is more slow. After the 2023 earthquake in Morocco, for example, the USAID disaster response team was located only hours later, although ultimately Morrocco did not request darts.

The same year, when Libya suffered catastrophic floods, Darts were located the same day. And when the same year of a major earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, Dart teams were also released just a few hours after the disaster. In both cases, the darts took a few days to get on the ground.

The US response comes against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s efforts to revise the Federal Government and dismantle USAID, dismissing thousands of employees, taking funding for more than 80% of its programs and closing its plant, although these efforts are disputed in numerous court cases.

On Friday, the State Department announced that it officially closed the agency and took over “many of the USAID functions and its continued programming.”

The State Department has repelled the evaluation that reduces to USAID, limited the reaction of the earthquake, but employees claim that there was at least some logistical impact caused by the reorganization rather than a lack of funding.

“I would reject the idea that this is obviously the result of USAID cuts and this type of funding,” State Department spokesman Tammy Bruce said on Monday. “We’re certainly in the region.”

Meanwhile, the Chinese teams arrived 18 hours after the earthquake and more than 400 Chinese staff are already on the spot in the region. Beijing has been sent aircraft full of deliveries, providing $ 14 million in help. China also has numerous teams in Thailand.

This is a propaganda victory for China, showing that it can be a reliable partner when its neighbors are in crisis.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning on Monday posted on X photos and videos of Chinese workers on the spot, saving survivors and delivering consumables, saying, “China, friend in need.”

At the place where a 34-storey building collapsed on Sunday in Bangkok, a group of US military officials come and go from the search area on Monday. The US team works with Israeli soldiers to Seach for Survivor, sending drones to areas too dangerous to reach rescue workers.

“We learn a lot from the Americans and they bring very good equipment,” says Choktong Issarangkool, one of the volunteers in the rescue and demand teams that also acts as a translator for US teams.

The Thai are grateful for the American help, something this region is used to pursuing a natural disaster: the US help teams have always been among the first to help.

State Department officials said discussions on a more brief response to the earthquake continue, including the possibility of sending a DART team, although it may be less than in the past efforts.

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

She stressed that $ 2 million initial support will be applied through partner organizations already working in the affected areas.