"You see yet another example of the profligate waste of taxpayers’ money going on foreign aid to those who do not need it. China is now a major industrial competitor of Great Britain. Why are we subsidizing their home projects when they can easily afford to do it themselves?" Margot Parker, a member of the European Parliament from the UK Independence Party said.
She suggested that instead of financing dubious humanitarian projects in China, the UK government should spend this money on people in need on UK soil.
Earlier in the week, a report released by the UK International Development Committee showed that the country's Official Development Assistance — a program administrated by the UK Foreign Office which aims to tackle global poverty and promote prosperity worldwide — supported the Chinese film industry, developed Chinese museum infrastructure and even helped to reduce the salt intake of children in China in 2017.
READ MORE: Will Beijing Manage to Survive the US-Chinese Trade War?
However, this affair failed to prevent further misuse of taxpayer's money, with scandals concerning the undue distribution of aid emerging from time to time. In 2016, The Times newspaper published a report accusing UK aid groups of receiving billions of pounds by overcharging the government to benefit themselves rather than those in need.
