Taiwanese Leader Begins Closely Watched Trip to U.S., Central America |
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen begins a ten-day trip (FT) today that seeks to shore up Taiwan’s official diplomatic ties with Belize and Guatemala and its unofficial ties with the United States. U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy recently walked back a pledge to visit Taiwan over concerns about escalating tensions with China, but he and Tsai reportedly plan to meet in Los Angeles at the end of her current trip. The Chinese government’s Taiwan policy body said today that such a meeting would “sabotage peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” and lead China to “resolutely hit back.”
Tsai’s travels come as former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou visits mainland China (Reuters) for a trip that is seen as part of efforts by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party to reduce tensions with China. The KMT will face Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party in elections next year.
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“Whether China chooses to calibrate its response [to a Tsai-McCarthy meeting] or opts for large-scale military exercises and economic sanctions similar to those it introduced following [then U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s 2022] visit will reveal a lot about the future of cross-strait relations,” CFR’s David Sacks writes for the Asia Unbound blog.
“Beijing has learned from past experience that whenever it uses fire-and-fury rhetoric against Taiwan, that usually backfires, and helps to elect the very Taiwanese nationalist politicians who are unfavorable to Beijing,” the Australian National University’s Wen-Ti Sung tells the New York Times. “So, instead, recently Beijing has been seeking to extend an olive branch towards Taiwan, and where possible to lend a hand to what it sees as the relatively Beijing-friendlier voices in Taiwan.”
This Backgrounder explains China-Taiwan tensions.
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Chinese Ambassador Takes Up Post in North Korea |
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Myanmar Junta Dissolves Forty Political Parties Ahead of Elections |
The junta said the parties failed to meet a registration deadline (AP). One of the dissolved parties was the National League for Democracy of Myanmar’s former de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. It had previously said it would not register because it viewed the elections as a sham. CFR’s Joshua Kurlantzick explains why the junta’s losses in Myanmar’s civil war could make holding a vote impossible.
Pakistan: Authorities have closed some stores owned by Chinese nationals after intelligence alerts showed that the stores could soon be targeted by terrorist attacks, Nikkei reported. Separatists and terrorist groups have frequently targeted Chinese residents in recent years.
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Middle East and North Africa |
Saudi Arabia Joins Shanghai Cooperation Organization |
The Saudi cabinet approved a bid (Reuters) to join the security and economic alliance, which includes China, India, Pakistan, and Russia. Saudi Arabia is seeking stronger security ties with China despite concerns from the United States.
Israel: The government and opposition yesterday held their first talks (Times of Israel) aimed at finding a compromise on controversial judicial reforms. The planned overhaul has raised tensions (CNN) between U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Biden saying yesterday that Israel “cannot continue down this road.”
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Ethiopia’s Abiy Says He Seeks a Peace Deal With Oromia Rebels |
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he hoped his administration and fighters from the Oromia region could hold talks (AP) similar to those that the government held with rebels from the Tigray region last year, which resulted in a peace agreement. A spokesperson for the Oromo Liberation Army rebel group said negotiations would require an international mediator.
Senegal: Opposition activists in Dakar said they would defy a protest ban (France 24, AFP) to denounce this week’s defamation trial of opposition leader Ousmane Sonko.
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U.S. Stops Sharing Nuclear Stockpile Information With Russia |
The move is a response (Politico) to Russia’s February decision to suspend its participation in the New START treaty on nuclear arms control, an official from the U.S. Department of Defense told lawmakers.
Brussels: After settling concerns from Germany, the European Union approved a plan (Politico) to phase out sales of new combustion-engine cars and vans by 2035. Germany had sought an exception for vehicles that use synthetic fuels, a greener alternative to gasoline that will now be regulated in follow-on legislation.
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Biden to Host Argentine Leader at White House |
Biden and Argentine President Alberto Fernández will celebrate (Buenos Aires Times, AFP) two hundred years of bilateral relations and discuss shared interests including critical minerals, climate change, and technology, the White House said. The meeting was originally set for last July but was postponed because Biden had COVID-19.
Colombia/Venezuela: Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he will convene an international conference (Anadolu) to promote dialogue between Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and Venezuela’s opposition. Prominent opposition figure Juan Guaidó said internationally mediated talks are already underway but that Maduro lacks the will for progress.
For the Journal of Democracy, CFR’s Will Freeman examines Maduro’s hold on power.
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AI Experts, Tech Entrepreneurs Call for Pause on ChatGPT to Weigh Risks to Society |
An open letter signed by hundreds of artificial intelligence (AI) experts, tech businesspeople, and scientists called for a six-month pause (Wired) on the development and testing of AI languages stronger than the GPT-4 technology used by ChatGPT so that the risks to society can be studied. Goldman Sachs estimates that as many as three hundred million jobs around the world could be automated (CNN) by the latest wave of AI languages.
The President’s Inbox podcast discusses how AI is reshaping great-power competition.
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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