The nonprofit groups track the imprisonment of Chinese political dissidents and the expansion of state censorship. They speak out for persecuted minority groups like the Uyghurs and Tibetans. And they help sustain attention on Beijing’s crackdown of freedoms in Hong Kong.

这些非营利组织追踪中国政治异见人士的监禁情况以及国家审查制度的扩大。他们为维吾尔族和藏族等受迫害的少数族群发声。他们还让人们保持对北京镇压香港自由的关注。

The future of their work is now in question as Elon Musk’s government efficiency operation takes aim at an important backer of such groups: the National Endowment for Democracy, or N.E.D., an American nonprofit largely funded by the United States.

现在，他们的工作前景陷入不确定性，因为埃隆·马斯克的政府效率行动瞄准了这些团体的一个重要支持者：美国国家民主基金会(NED)，这是一家主要由美国资助的非营利组织。

Several China-focused nonprofits told The New York Times that the endowment had informed them this past week that their funding had been suspended indefinitely. Money distributed to the endowment was no longer being delivered after members of Mr. Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency gained access to the Treasury Department’s payment system.

几家专注中国事务的非营利组织告诉《纽约时报》，该基金会上周通知它们，对它们的拨款已无限期暂停。在马斯克所谓的政府效率部成员获得美国财政部支付系统的访问权限后，分配给该基金的资金就不再发放了。

The stoppage of N.E.D. funds affects groups all over the world, but activists say the impact on groups focused on China will be especially severe. Such work has become more crucial — and risky — as Xi Jinping, the most powerful Chinese leader in decades, has waged a far-reaching crackdown on civil society and tightened control on information.

美国国家民主基金会的资金被叫停影响到世界各地的组织，但活动人士表示，专注中国的组织受到的影响将尤为严重。随着数十年来中国最有权势的领导人习近平对公民社会发起广泛打压并收紧信息控制，这类工作变得更为重要，也更为危险。

上周二，负责政府效率部的特别政府雇员马斯克在白宫椭圆形办公室，身边是他的儿子和特朗普总统。

Across China, scores of activists, lawyers, journalists and intellectuals have been harassed, detained or jailed since Mr. Xi came to power in 2012. In the far-western region of Xinjiang, officials have detained and imprisoned an estimated hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim ethnic minorities.

自2012年习近平上台以来，中国各地已有大批活动人士、律师、记者和知识分子遭到骚扰、拘留或监禁。在西部边远的新疆地区，官员们拘留和监禁了据估数十万名维吾尔人和其他穆斯林少数民族人士。

It is unclear how many organizations have been affected by the cuts to the endowment’s funding. The Treasury Department and the endowment, which was allocated $315 million by Congress this year, did not respond to requests for comment. The Department of Government Efficiency could not be reached for comment.

目前尚不清楚有多少组织受到民主基金会资金削减的影响。该基金会今年从国会获得了3.15亿美元的拨款，财政部和基金会均未回应置评请求。记者也未能联系到政府效率部置评。

The National Endowment for Democracy was established by Congress during the Reagan administration to bolster democracy worldwide. It has long attracted the ire of Beijing, which has accused the group of committing “evil deeds” by instigating protests and “colluding with anti-China destabilizing forces” in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.

美国国家民主基金会是国会在里根政府时期成立的，旨在促进全球民主。长期以来，北京一直对该基金会表示不满，指责其在台湾、香港、新疆和西藏煽动抗议活动并“与反华势力勾结”，犯下“恶行”。

Among the endowment’s grantees is China Digital Times, a United States-based website that monitors Chinese internet controls and censorship. It recently exposed a Chinese state-sponsored disinformation campaign targeting Canada’s former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, who is running to succeed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

该基金的受资助者包括中国数字时代，这是一家总部位于美国的网站，监控中国的互联网控制和审查情况。该网站最近曝光了中国政府支持的针对加拿大前财政部长克里斯蒂娅·弗里兰的虚假信息宣传活动，弗里兰正在竞选加拿大总理特鲁多的继任者职位。

The website’s founder, Xiao Qiang, said his operations were “severely disrupted” by the funding suspension, resulting in pay cuts and work-hour reductions for staff.

网站创始人萧强表示，资金中断导致网站运营“被严重扰乱”，只得减少员工的工资和工作时间。

萧强是中国数字时代的创始人，该组织自成立以来一直依赖美国国家民主基金会的资助。

“We are facing significant financial challenges that threaten our ability to continue our work,” said Mr. Xiao, whose website has been financially supported by the endowment since the site was established in 2013.

“我们正面临巨大的财务挑战，这威胁到我们能否继续工作，”萧强说。自2013年建立以来，他的网站一直得到该基金的资助。

A representative of the World Uyghur Congress, a group of exiled Uyghurs, which has also seen its N.E.D. funding frozen, said the cuts came at a difficult time for their advocacy work. The group said that the plight of Muslim Uyghurs in China had been overshadowed by other global crises, like the wars in Ukraine and Gaza. And its advocacy efforts have been complicated by Beijing’s growing ability to silence its critics abroad by targeting their family members still in the country and pressuring governments to repatriate asylum seekers.

世界维吾尔代表大会是一个流亡维吾尔人的组织，它来自NED的资金也遭到冻结。该组织的一名代表表示，此次资金削减正值他们的倡导工作面临困难时期。该组织表示，中国境内维吾尔穆斯林的困境被乌克兰和加沙战争等其他全球危机所掩盖。北京压制海外批评者的能力越来越强——他们针对海外维吾尔人仍在中国的家庭成员，并向各国政府施压，要求他们遣返寻求庇护者，这使得世界维吾尔代表大会的倡导工作变得愈发复杂。

The funding was especially important, the group said, because private donors like companies or entrepreneurs with overseas business interests were more vulnerable to Chinese retribution.

该组织表示，来自NED的资金尤其重要，因为私人捐助者，如拥有海外商业利益的公司或企业家，更容易受到中国的报复。

Some activists had hoped that the Trump administration’s appointment of politicians with hawkish views on China was a sign that they would retain support from the United States. They lamented how abruptly the funds were cut.

一些活动人士原本希望特朗普政府任命对华鹰派政客是他们会继续获得美国支持的迹象。他们对资金被突然切断感到遗憾。

“We in the China community were initially hopeful and optimistic about this administration because of appointments like Marco Rubio,” Zumretay Arkin, the vice president of the World Uyghur Congress, said about the secretary of state, who has long been critical of Beijing’s human rights record.

“由于对马尔科·鲁比奥这样的人的任命，我们这些中国社区的人原本对这届政府充满希望和感到乐观。”世界维吾尔代表大会副主席祖姆雷泰·阿尔金在谈到这位长期以来一直批评北京人权记录的国务卿时表示。

“We are shocked by how rapidly things have changed in not even a month,” she continued.

“我们对不到一个月内事态发生如此迅速的变化感到震惊，”她继续说道。

去年10月，在萨拉热窝举行的世界维吾尔代表大会年会。

Li Qiang, the founder of the New York-based China Labor Watch, which seeks to end the forced labor and trafficking of Chinese workers, said he was told on Wednesday that N.E.D. funds to his group would be halted for the first time in the 23 years he has been a grantee of the organization.

总部设在纽约的中国劳工观察组织致力于终止对中国工人的强迫劳动和贩卖行为。其创始人李强表示，他于周三接到NED将暂停资助的通知，这是他成为该组织受助者23年来的头一遭。

He said the sweeping way in which Mr. Musk had mobilized people online to attack groups like the National Endowment for Democracy reminded him of political crackdowns in China aimed at consolidating control under a top leader.

他说，马斯克在网上动员人们攻击美国国家民主基金会等组织的方式让他想起了中国为巩固最高领导人的控制而进行的政治打压。

“History has proven that this approach ultimately led to chaos in China, resulting in the deaths of thousands of innocent people,” Mr. Li said.

“历史已经证明，这种做法最终导致中国陷入混乱，造成成千上万无辜民众的死亡，”李强说。

Chinese nationalist voices, on the other hand, applauded President Trump’s and Mr. Musk’s moves to cripple the endowment. China has accused it of fomenting all kinds of dissent against Beijing, including the 2019 antigovernment protests in Hong Kong. Beijing said the endowment’s support for rights groups there was an attempt at destabilizing the city and weakening Beijing’s control over it. (Hong Kong activists have rejected the accusation of foreign meddling as an attempt at belittling their grievances.)

另一方面，中国的民族主义者对特朗普总统和马斯克削弱该基金的举措表示赞赏。中国一直指责该基金煽动各种反对北京的异见活动，包括2019年香港的反政府抗议活动。北京表示，该基金对香港人权组织的支持是企图破坏香港稳定，削弱北京对香港的控制。（香港活动人士否认外国干涉的指控，认为这是试图贬低他们的不满。）

“I’m undoubtedly happy about it, and, hopefully, this cutoff will be long-term instead of temporary,” said Hu Xijin, a retired editor in chief of The Global Times, a Communist Party tabloid, in an interview.

“我无疑对此感到高兴，而且希望这种切断是长期的，而不是暂时的，”共产党小报《环球时报》退休总编辑胡锡进在接受采访时表示。

Wang Yiwei, the director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University in Beijing, said the dismantling of U.S. foreign aid pointed to a retreat by the United States from the global stage. He said the endowment’s work was America’s way of interfering in the internal affairs of other countries and a waste of taxpayers’ money.

中国人民大学国际事务研究所所长王义桅表示，美国停止对外援助表明美国在全球舞台上的撤退。他说，该基金会的工作是美国干涉其他国家内政的方式，浪费了纳税人的钱。

“China welcomes this, of course, and so do other countries,” he said.

“中国当然对此表示欢迎，其他国家也一样，”他说。