China lags Ikea in aid to Philippines

Oren Dorell | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption China donates less than Ikea to Philippines | USA NOW Host Carly Mallenbaum speaks with USA TODAY world editor William Dermody regarding donations to the Philippines.

More than 2%2C300 people were killed by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines

China offered %24100%2C000 then boosted its aid package to %241.6 million

Ikea is sending %242.7 million

China is the world's second largest economy and closer to the Philippines than other major donors of assistance to the typhoon-ravaged archipelago.

Yet the paltry $1.6 million in aid it pledged to its neighbor was less than the check written by Swedish furniture store Ikea.

"China's action illustrates the blundering nature of its foreign policy," said Phillip Swagel, a former assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department and co-author of Awkward Embrace: The United States and China in the 21st Century. "This is an unforced error for them, revealing to other countries the limits of Chinese friendship."

Typhoon Haiyan raked the island nation Nov. 7, causing at least 3,621 fatalities, destroying 236,000 homes and wreaking devastation so widespread that bodies have been piled on sides of roads for days and survivors have been desperate for food and shelter.

China's pledge, which it boosted after getting flack for its original offer of $100,000, is a fraction of the amounts pledged by other countries in the region and much farther away, including the USA, which pledged $20 million. Australia promised $30 million. The United Kingdom offered $16 million. Japan and United Arab Emirates each pledged $10 million. Ikea is sending $2.7 million, according to UNICEF.

An editorial in the Southern Daily, the Communist Party newspaper in Guangdong, accused Filipinos upset with the first offer of being unappreciative malcontents, according to the International Business Times, a U.K. publication.

"The Philippines is obviously not content or even appreciating of China's 'love', only expecting 'more love' from China," the editorial said.

China and the Philippines have tangled in recent years over territory in the South China Sea, which China says belongs to it alone, even waters near the Philippines that are hundreds of miles from China's mainland.

Bonnie Glaser, an East Asia adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says the real reason China offers so little is that China is always tight when it comes to disaster aid.

The rising economic power still sees itself as a developing nation, Glaser said.

"There's not a lot of support domestically in China for foreign assistance," Glaser said. "The leadership worries that they would be criticized if they were found to be giving too much money away and not helping the poor at home."

China's power projection capabilities are still limited, she said. It has only one hospital ship, the Arc Peace, and one aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which its sailors and aviators are still learning how to use. But that has not stopped China from sending numerous military and commercial vessels to the Philippines in the past to stake claims against fishing grounds off its shores.

China does provide foreign assistance, but more in the way of business ventures that are seen as wise investments for the Chinese people. China has funded massive mining and drilling operations in Africa, which has created jobs for thousands of Chinese nationals who China insists be hired for the construction of such projects. And the projects usually involve direct trade with China.

President Xi Jinping announced in October the creation of an Asian infrastructure investment bank to promote regional economic integration. And 123 countries count China as their largest trading partner.

"They do give assistance, but in the disaster relief area they generally don't give very much compared to other countries," Glaser said.

The People's Liberation Army provides the largest contingent for United Nations peace keeping operations out of all permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, Glaser said. However, China is not the largest donor to of funds to those operations.

The United States pays the most, covering close to one third of the expense. China kicks in 6.6% of the funding, below Japan, Britain, Germany and France, but its forces take more out of it than those nations.