Daily News Brief

July 20, 2023

Top of the Agenda

Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a speech yesterday that China’s path toward climate progress should not be influenced by others (NYT), according to state media. The comments are an apparent rebuff to U.S. climate envoy John Kerry’s efforts to urge China toward tougher climate action during high-level talks in Beijing this week. Parts of China are among several world regions experiencing record-breaking temperatures (WaPo) in recent days.

After three days of talks, Kerry told reporters the meetings were productive, but that it will take longer than he had hoped to “break new ground.” His was one of several visits to China in recent weeks by senior U.S. officials. Separately, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger met with (Reuters) China’s defense minister and top diplomat earlier this week, and then with Xi today. 

Analysis

“It's an indicator of the precarious state of bilateral relations that the minimum goal of a resumption of the bilateral climate change working group was not announced,” Georgetown University’s Dennis Wilder tweets.

“Xi’s approach marked a break from the 2015 Paris climate accord, where a Chinese-U.S. agreement paved the way for the international goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels,” the Washington Post’s Chris Mooney, Emily Rauhala, and Christian Shepherd write.

Pacific Rim

Lawmakers voted to reject (Bangkok Post) the leader of the Move Forward Party, Pita Limjaroenrat, in his second bid for prime minister yesterday. A new election for the position will be held on July 27.

South and Central Asia

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke months of silence over the ethnic violence in Manipur state after a video showing two women being paraded naked by a group of men went viral. He called the incident “a shame for any civilized society” and said “the law will take its course” (Bloomberg). 

Sri Lanka: The legislature approved an anti-corruption law (AP) yesterday that was required by the International Monetary Fund as part of a bailout package in order for the bankrupt nation to receive nearly $3 billion in government budgetary support.

Middle East and North Africa

The demonstrations in Baghdad broke out in response to (AP) the Swedish government’s authorization for a protest in Stockholm, during which demonstrators had planned to burn a copy of the Quran. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohamed Shia al-Sudani said he would cut diplomatic ties with Sweden if the protest moved forward.

Egypt: The government pardoned (AFP) human rights researcher and graduate student Patrick Zaki and human rights lawyer Mohamed al-Baqer yesterday. Zaki’s jail sentence on Tuesday prompted international protest; some Egyptian participants walked out of a government dialogue with the opposition over the verdict.

Sub-Saharan Africa

A UN spokesperson warned that violence in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has escalated (AP) and called on all parties to respect humanitarian law. A report released last month by the international medical aid organization Doctors Without Borders said that humanitarian relief in the area has been slow and lacks transparency. 

This timeline traces the history of international intervention in the DRC.

Central Africa: Some U.S. firms are failing to disclose potential ties (Bloomberg) to Central Africa’s illegal mineral trade because they believe they will not face penalties for failure to do so, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a new report. The law requires companies to file reports on products that contain minerals from the region in an effort to cut ties between the illicit mineral trade and violence in the DRC. 

Europe

The aid includes humanitarian and economic reconstruction aid (NYT), as well as $1.3 billion for Ukraine to buy new military equipment and ammunition. The United States has provided Ukraine with more than $70 billion in military and humanitarian support since shortly before the war, according to the Kiel Institute, a German economic research organization. 

In six graphics, CFR’s Jonathan Masters and Will Merrow show how much aid the United States has sent Ukraine. 

Belarus: The founder of Russian private military company Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said in a video posted to Telegram yesterday that Wagner has moved to Belarus “for some time” (FT) before deploying to Africa. He added that the group could later rejoin Russian troops in Ukraine.

This In Brief by William Rampe explores what Wagner is doing in Africa.

Americas

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said during the visit yesterday that he aims to resume “good and fruitful” relations (Reuters) with African countries as he plans to travel to several different African nations this year and the next.

U.S./Central America: The U.S. State Department announced sanctions (AP) against two former Salvadoran presidents and dozens of other Central American politicians and judges, citing corruption and undemocratic actions in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

United States

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) had planned to begin mass production at a new plant in Arizona late next year, but said that a shortage of skilled workers will push back the opening date (Nikkei) to 2025.

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