Rumormonger Australian 'think tank' ASPI suspends bogus 'research' on China as US funding cuts bite

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI), a Canberra-based think tank that has long been an anti-China vanguard, has announced that it will suspend some of its "research" on China after the Trump administration paused grants offered by the US State Department.

The move followed Trump's decision to cut almost 90 percent of funding for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). According to the Wall Street Journal, the US funding stoppage has caused ASPI to halt work on China-related research and data initiatives worth approximately $1.2 million. 

Despite its claims to be an "academic institute," ASPI has always been more interested in manipulating politics and inciting color revolutions. Members of US Congress have frequently used the think tank's anti-China propaganda disguised as "academic study" to bash China.

ASPI has shown a lot of bravado about how it operates on US fundings and donations, proudly positioning itself as a mouthpiece for the West, particularly the US, by spreading anti-China propaganda and encouraging other governments to take action against China.

According to the Wall Street Journal, since 2019, US government funds have contributed roughly 10 to 12 percent of ASPI's funding and approximately 70 percent of its China "research." According to ASPI's most recent annual report, the organization received funding of roughly AUD 3 million (around $1.9 million) from the US State Department for the fiscal year 2022–2023.

"The U.S. government was the key funder of large grants on topics focused on China," Danielle Cave, ASPI's head of strategy and research, told the Wall Street Journal.

For years, ASPI, which receives funding from the US, has been spreading false information about Xinjiang. It has been instrumental in distorting foreign public opinion about the region. Since 2018, the Xinjiang Data Project has released hundreds of "reports," "investigations," and "essays" based on the institute's lies.

In 2020, China's Foreign Ministry described ASPI as "unreasonable" and "not independent or scientific." 

Many internet users around the world have cheered the suspension of ASPI's China falsehoods, accusing ASPI of misleading the public, corrupting their opinion, and spreading false information.

"ASPI is just another case to prove that think tanks in the West are tools for governments to apply diplomatic policies and spread influence," said an X user.