The U.S. government is preparing to restore or expand programs to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s international influence after having “put a halt to many of those initiatives last year during a flurry of budget and personnel cuts.” The projected spending includes $175.8 million to replace aging undersea cables in the Caribbean and Central America (Associated Press, July 28, 2026).
The underseas cable funding appears to be part of a broader push to restore support for initiatives aimed at blunting Chinese influence globally that would cost many hundreds of millions of dollars more. That is even as President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping put on a show of cooperation and Xi prepares to visit the U.S. this fall….
Many of those proposed programs are designed to “reclaim diplomatic leverage” through investments in areas where the U.S. had previously been spending money but stopped as the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, carried out deep cuts to government budgets and personnel last year.
Those cuts, which dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development and eliminated several hundred diplomatic posts worldwide, also affected previously approved projects, including some aimed at countering China….
Under the new program, funding is anticipated to be given to or in support of undersea cable projects benefiting El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Haiti, the document said. The U.S. has tenuous ties with Nicaragua and would not be working with the government there.
The Chinese government says that making such programs about politics and rivalry is very wrong.
Shared future
According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian, China’s cooperation with other regions “is not about wooing or rivaling anyone, but about safeguarding world peace, promoting global development, upholding international order and building a community with a shared future for humanity. Turning it into a political or security issue will only disrupt international market rules and threaten global digital connectivity and cybersecurity, which serves no one’s interests.”
The statement is correct except for the implications that the CCP is not wooing anyone internationally, not seeking to rival anyone internationally, has neutral or benevolent intentions with respect to “global development” and a world “community,” is a staunch upholder of a just international order, is a friend of world peace and markets, is careful to never do anything to threaten global digital connectivity or cybersecurity, and is concerned to safeguard everybody’s interests.
