According to a Reuters report on February 6, Trump plans to reduce the number of employees at the U.S. International Development Agency (USAID) from over 10,000 to fewer than 300.

Western media have interpreted this as retaliatory actions against the Democratic Party, criticizing that Trump’s move will cause many developing countries to lose food and medical aid.

However, according to Chinese strategist Professor Wang, this development may not be detrimental to developing countries, particularly China. Instead, it is an active manifestation of the United States abandoning its global hegemony in the long run and is beneficial for the development of the global South. To understand this trend, you only need to focus on two aspects:

The first point: The shutdown of USAID signifies that the US machine for creating chaos around the world has fallen into brain death.

The U.S. global hegemony is maintained by two pillars: military force and cultural warfare. In terms of military power, it’s obviously the U.S. military. Cultural warfare, however, is where USAID comes into play.

On the surface, USAID is portrayed as an international aid organization, but in reality, it is a tool for the U.S. to use non-military means to maintain its interests and support the global hegemony system.

After the U.S. military occupies a region, it needs cheap ways to maintain control. This requires weakening the local population’s resistance and domestic anti-war sentiment. To achieve this, USAID serves as the “remote control” primarily through bribing and purchasing foreign media.

For example, in 2023, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), USAID provided “funding” to over 6,200 journalists and 707 media outlets in 30 countries, as well as 279 non-governmental organizations with media characteristics. In Ukraine, USAID was the main sponsor for most “independent media,” with 90% of these media outlets reliant on foreign “subsidies” to operate.

This strategy has been evident in events like the 2014 coup in Ukraine, where the distortion of public opinion by numerous “independent media” financed by external forces contributed to the ousting of the democratically elected President Yanukovych. Had USAID been shut down a decade earlier, the war in Ukraine might not have happened.

In 2013, U.S. Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland offered food to pro-EU protesters

It’s even possible that the COVID-19 pandemic raging around the globe might not have even happened.

On February 3, Musk revealed that USAID had funded the development of biological weapons, including “gain-of-function” research on the virus, which caused the deaths of 7,000,000 people globally. If not for the exposure of USAID’s records, the “Wuhan virus” rumour would have smeared China much more. Even more, more man-made viruses could continue to plague the world.

The second point is that eliminating USAID will make all sovereign states great again.

Trump simultaneously announced the suspension of all foreign aid for 90 days. The New York Times claims that Trump’s decision would “make an already fragile cease-fire more fragile,” highlighting during the Gaza War, USAID has provided over $1 billion in aid to Gaza and the West Bank, providing food supplies to tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees.

However, a closer examination reveals NYT’s hypocrisy. According to Brown University statistics, in 2024, the U.S. provided $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel, which is over ten times the amount allocated for Palestinian refugee aid. Trump even claimed that the U.S. should seek ownership of Gaza.

Moreover, USAID’s food aid is even part of the biological warfare plan.

In November 2021, USAID announced plans to donate 3,000 tons of wheat seed to Syria, aiming to ensure “bread for everyone.” However, after Syrian agricultural officials inspected the seeds, they discovered that 40% were infected with a parasite called Nematode, warning farmers to destroy the seeds or risk losing their land’s agricultural value for years to come.

In December 2024, Bashar al-Assad, the former President of Syria was forced to resign. Syrians were surprised to find out, besides the “dictator” portrayed by Western media, that they had also lost the “bread for everyone.”

Assad’s government had long subsidized a type of flatbread. According to NPR, 12 pieces of this flatbread cost only 400 Syrian pounds, roughly 3 cents of USD. For Syrians with a daily living expense of only $2, this flatbread was a lifeline.

A woman collects her bread at a bakery in the Syrian capital Damascus. Bread costs up to nine times more than it did just weeks ago.

However, according to the Middle East Monitor, after Assad’s resignation, the price of bread in Damascus rose by 900%.

On January 6, 2025, the U.S. announced plans to ease sanctions against Syria and allow humanitarian aid into the country. Notably, while the U.S. used “food aid” and sanctions to destroy Syrian agriculture, the former Syrian government was still able to feed Syrians — even if the majority of agricultural production was controlled by Kurds. However, after the U.S. relaxed sanctions and allowed aid, Syrians began to starve.

Similar examples in Afghanistan demonstrate that it is not foreign aid that ensures bread for everyone, but rather a government that serves its people can running stably.

From this, we can see how USAID has turned people in developing countries into starvation victims. If USAID had not been so actively driving colour revolutions and biological warfare, these nations’ people would have been able to survive with dignity. However, it is precisely the U.S.’s “charitable” aid that has turned them into “free” beggars.

In summary, while Trump’s move to shut down USAID may still stem from political consolidation and strategic scaling-back, objectively speaking, it also dismantles the “brain” of U.S. global hegemony. Once the propaganda machine falls silent, developing countries’ people can finally realise that their true saviours are their sovereign nations. This will help people in the global South regain their confidence and collectively advance a multi-polar world order.

As for the U.S., the savings from these cuts will not be sufficient to halt its decline, but they do indicate that the Trump administration has recognized the difficulty of maintaining the global hegemony. From a strategic perspective, abandoning global hegemony may indeed be a wiser and more practical choice for today’s U.S.

The post How Will USAID’s Fall Benefit China and the World? first appeared on China Academy.

Syrians abroad are raising the opposition’s flag and waving slogans of liberty. Swedish netizens are calling on them to return to Syria and enjoy their newfound freedom. In Germany, people are urging the government to remove Syria from its list of “unsafe countries” and revoke asylum protections for those who fled.

However, Syrian immigrant rights organizations are urging the German government to keep Syria on the list and prevent deportations. These individuals are not the same as the millions of Syrians who lost their homes in the country. They sought asylum by claiming that they suffered persecution by the Assad government, and many have already obtained residency in countries like Germany.

Syrian journalist Amari tweeted on December 8, saying that the day was “the beginning of a new era for Syria.” Two days later, on December 10, he posted again, claiming that “the mass graves will be found.”

However, when Israeli forces entered Syrian territory, he called for Israel to halt its strikes, stating that Syria had been liberated and is no longer an enemy of Israel. Otherwise, they would change their stance toward Israel in the media.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, meanwhile, has made it clear that the Golan Heights will forever be part of Israel. The country’s foreign ministry also justifies the invasion, claiming that the military actions are necessary to protect Jewish communities.

The Guardian reports on Netanyahu’s statement following Israel’s takeover of the Golan Heights.

Syria has no soldiers left to defend its territory, as the government army is disbanding and the opposition forces are preparing to turn on each other. Its military post on Mount Hermon, a key defense in the Golan Heights, stood wide open, allowing Israeli forces to easily enter the other side of the Golan Heights.

On December 9, Israel’s permanent representative to the United Nations sent a letter to the UN Security Council, warning that the safety of UN personnel in the Golan Heights was at serious risk, suggesting that the UN peacekeeping forces should quickly withdraw from the buffer zone.

Under the Assad administration, Israel also carried out airstrikes, but they were more restrained. However, with the collapse of the Assad government, Israel was free to conduct attacks anywhere in Syria. In just two days, the Israeli Air Force launched around 250 strikes on key Syrian targets. Military facilities across most Syrian provinces were hit, with airports, ammunition depots, aircraft, warships, radar stations, and research facilities destroyed. Meanwhile, the country’s air defense system was completely crippled.

Some people hope the United States will intervene to stop Israel. However, on December 11, the U.S. State Department stated that Israel’s actions in the Golan Heights were “reasonable and legal,” as it prevents potential terrorist organizations and extremist groups from using the area as a base. After hearing this, some might finally understand that the U.S. simply doesn’t care about Syria.

In fact, the Golan Heights was never a disputed territory. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the area was governed by the French Mandate. Following Syria’s independence, it declared sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 1946, with no objections from other countries. However, in 1967, Israel used military force to occupy the region. In May 1974, the UN Security Council intervened, and both sides ceased contact, with peacekeeping forces stationed in the ceasefire zone. The Golan Heights was divided, with Israel controlling a much larger area and seizing the water resources.

On December 14, 1981, Israel passed a law declaring the Golan Heights to be part of Israeli territory, granting Israel legislative, judicial, and executive powers over the area. On March 25, 2019, President Trump signed a declaration in the presence of Netanyahu, recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel hold up a Golan Heights proclamation at the White House.

International organizations like the United Nations, as well as countries including Canada, have voiced opposition. But Israel is far from satisfied; it is waiting for the right moment to seize the remaining portion of the Golan Heights, and now that moment has arrived.

Some people, who believe they have integrated into Western society and been accepted by Western civilization, think they can enlighten the Syrians. They often praise the United States or criticize China and Russia, without truly understanding the Syrian perspective or the causes of Syria’s economic collapse. They believe that the reason many Syrians can only afford two pieces of bread a day is because of Assad’s governance, and that once he’s gone, everything will improve. However, they fail to realize that if it weren’t for government subsidies, food prices would have skyrocketed by now, and Syrians wouldn’t even be able to afford two pieces of bread.

Due to the ongoing war, Syria’s annual wheat production has dropped from 6 million tons to just 500,000 tons. The wheat-producing areas are controlled by U.S. army and Kurdish forces. The government has been forced to use foreign exchange reserves to purchase wheat from other Arab countries and sell it at low prices. As a result, Syria doesn’t have enough foreign reserves for reconstruction. When the Assad government fell, the country’s foreign reserves were only about $700 million, and the central bank’s gold reserves were nearly depleted.

Western media has demonized Assad, accusing him of using chemical weapons against his enemies. But after three days of searching, the opposition forces couldn’t find any trace of these weapons, let alone so-called mass graves.

Previously, the BBC reported that Assad’s plane was shot down and his entire family was killed. Now, they claim he moved his wealth abroad. In fact, Assad did transfer valuable items overseas. A few years ago, he sent over 100 precious Syrian artifacts to China. On May 17, the Nanjing City Wall Museum held an exhibition of Syrian cultural relics, with other cities in China showcasing them as well. More than a dozen of these items are considered national treasures of Syria. Had they not been moved, these relics would have either been destroyed in the war or ended up in auction houses in New York.

Syrian artifacts on exhibition in Nanjing

Eventually, Assad gave up resistance, handing over Damascus peacefully to the opposition forces and announcing his resignation. Today, the opposition’s flag is everywhere, with three stars replacing the previous two, and the red, white, and black color scheme now replaced by green, white, and black. Some girls have even painted the flag on their faces in celebration. Syrian women activists are shouting excitedly, saying that Syria is free again.

However, groups like HTS and other armed groups are already establishing a new order—one in which women are not allowed to go out alone without a male relative, such as a father or husband.

On December 9, the famous Syrian actress Iliana Saad was stopped while driving through the streets of Damascus on her way to join the celebrations. Armed members controlling her neighborhood intercepted her and told her, “You are too free. We are an Islamic nation. Without a mahram (male relative), a woman cannot go out alone.”

Some videos from the streets of Syria show people toppling Christmas trees that were waiting to be decorated. And this is just the beginning…

The post For Every Syrian Who Celebrated Freedom, It’s Time to Start Crying first appeared on China Academy.

The post Who Is Gaining from Syria’s Collapse? first appeared on China Academy.

But the victory of Trump, the prospect of a new administration in Washington accelerated all plans to undermine Russia. In order to set Trump up for failure and trap him, those in Washington now have sped up their efforts to diminish Russia’s regional importance. If Russia appears too weak and too unstable to assure its own regional interests and those of its allies, this could send the wrong message to Trump, leading him down the wrong path of treating Russia as some secondary, regional power. I believe this is the plan behind the entire Syria situation.

Syria was the weakest link in the chain. And this time, globalists and Israel have thrown in all their cards, all their leverage, all their potential there in Syria in order to strike simultaneously against Assad. Maybe the corrupted Syrian army had some secret agreements with the West. May be some members of Assad family also. The goal was to get Russia out of Syria, overthrow Assad, expel Iranians and support Israel with a weakened Syria, compounded with the goal of altering Russia’s image in the eyes of Trump.

Syria was the weakest link in the chain.

Now, the globalists in this interim government, the ending term of Biden, they try to inflict as many damages they could afford on Russia in order to prevent normalization of the relations between Russia and U.S., I would say that they have succeeded as they have overthrown Assad by summoning the hostile movements of al Qaida, of ISIS, of Kurds as well the traitors in the Syrian army and Assad’s government. It has been in the making for more than ten years since the globalists started the Arab Spring. They aimed at overthrowing all traditional leaders, which they succeeded in doing in Tunisia and later in Egypt. They have also provoked civil wars which are still ongoing in Libya and in Iraq. Syria and Russia and China have always been on their list. Russia and China have together intervened in the Syria-Russia militarily and China more economically- to save the secular regime of Assad, to prevent the genocide, to prevent the annihilation of the ethnic and religious minority in Syria. We have successfully done that for more than 10 years.

And now finally, the coordination between hostile powers by the globalists has prevailed. I would say that this is a huge loss. It is not existential loss, for example, as Ukraine is for us, we will fight in Ukraine until our last breath. Syria is not of such priority, but nevertheless, it was very important of a multipolar world and of our strategic position in the Middle East. And it takes a toll on the humanitarian aid to civilians there.

Now, I can hardly imagine what will follow. For sure, fighting among hostile fractions will begin. Syria’s civil society, minorities such as Christians and Shiites are all under threat. Terrible things are going on to happen there in Syria. And we no longer have no the power to help the Syrian people. We’ve done all that we could. We need to accept the blow as blow, the pain as pain, and the loss as loss. It is the tragic aspect of existence. But we should all learn from this tragedy. I think the inevitable defeat of the globalist with their anti-human agenda and the drive for global dominance will only be accelerated by such episodes.

I think that Russia, China, India, and other poles of our multipolar world should make more efforts to bring justice and real democracy to our world, and help all minorities survive radical terrorists’ ideologies and practices.

I see no way out for the Middle East in the short term. The situation will exacerbate until it reaches a critical point. For Syrians, we’ve tried to save their society, but we have lost. We need to accept that it will affect our fight against globalist on other fronts. But if Trump could distance himself from Washington until he comes to office, maybe he could counterbalance the globalist’s agenda to some extent. At the same time, Trump’s total devotion to Israel and to more radical circles in Israel such as Netanyahu himself, as Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, that as well could make situation more difficult. Nothing is certain.

Now, the world is in the turbulence, in the bloody chaos, and not only the Middle East. We need to lead the way in establishing alternative relations among countries, nations, ethnical group, religions, different from how the West has done it. The West cannot lead humanity. It can create conflicts, start the war, and destroy, but it cannot construct and build. They can build nothing at all, but their power to destroy is immense.

The post Russia Lost Syria: A Blow is a Blow, a Pain is a Pain first appeared on China Academy.