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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The head of U.S. forces for the Indo-Pacific, Admiral Samuel Paparo, said on Wednesday he would be advocating "most strongly" for the continuation of USAID funding to the Pacific Islands region, where U.S. influence is being contested by China.
Asked at a congressional hearing if the United States was missing opportunities with the Trump administration's assault on the U.S. Agency for International Development and by not using the Coast Guard to full effect in the Pacific Islands, Paparo told the House Armed Services Committee:
"USAID aid is under review, and I'll be advocating most strongly for that aid for all of the countries, and the Coast Guard provides a critical role in the South Pacific."
On whether China would fill the vacuum created by the rollback in aid, Paparo said: "The People's Republic of China sees these opportunities, and they seize them."
USAID, the U.S. government's main agency for foreign assistance, has been a prime target of billionaire Elon Musk's moves to slash U.S. government spending. Musk is a senior adviser to President Donald Trump.
Since February, most USAID staff have been put on administrative leave, hundreds of contractors have been fired and more than 5,000 programs terminated, disrupting global humanitarian aid operations on which millions depend.
The head of U.S. forces in Africa, General Michael Langley, said last week that China was working to exploit the dismantling of USAID activity on the African continent.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom, Michael Martina and Idrees Ali; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
