Nonprofit organizations are actively monitoring the detention of political dissidents in China and the increasing reach of governmental censorship. They advocate for marginalized communities, including the Uyghurs and Tibetans, and strive to keep the spotlight on the erosion of freedoms in Hong Kong.

However, the future of their initiatives is now uncertain due to actions taken by Elon Musk’s efficiency initiative, which has targeted a crucial supporter of these groups: the National Endowment for Democracy (N.E.D.), a U.S.-based nonprofit primarily funded by American resources.

Several nonprofit organizations focusing on China reported to The New York Times that they were notified last week by the endowment of an indefinite suspension of their funding. The financial contributions that previously flowed into the endowment have ceased, as personnel from Musk’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency gained access to the Treasury Department’s funding systems.

This withdrawal of N.E.D. financial support impacts organizations worldwide, but activists express that the consequences for China-focused groups will be particularly dire. This work has become increasingly essential—and dangerous—as Xi Jinping, the strongest Chinese ruler in decades, continues a broad campaign against civil society and intensifies state control over information.

Since Xi Jinping’s rise to power in 2012, numerous activists, lawyers, journalists, and intellectuals across China have faced harassment, detention, or incarceration. In the remote Xinjiang region, authorities have reportedly detained and imprisoned hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities.