Taiwan’s Ruling Party Presidential Candidate Accuses China of Election Tampering |
China is tampering (Nikkei) with Taiwan’s election through “military threats, economic coercion, cognitive warfare [and] misinformation,” candidate and current Taiwanese Vice President William Lai of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) told reporters today ahead of Saturday’s presidential and parliamentary vote. Last week, Taiwanese authorities detained (FT) one of the candidates in the parliamentary election on charges of taking campaign money from the Chinese Communist Party, while today, a Chinese satellite launch prompted air alerts in Taiwan. Beijing has called (Reuters) the DPP’s interference allegations “dirty tricks” to win election support and has framed the election as a choice between war and peace.
Lai’s opponents propose improving communications with China. While Lai has previously described himself as a pragmatic worker for Taiwan’s independence, he said today that he would maintain the status quo with China, remain open to engagement conditional to Beijing showing equality and dignity for Taipei, and pursue peace through strength if elected. |
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“Lai has presented himself as a continuation of [outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen’s] cross-strait and foreign and defense policies, a president who would focus on maintaining the status quo in the Taiwan Strait while strengthening the island’s defenses and pursuing closer ties to the United States and other democracies. But China deemed Tsai’s approach to cross-strait relations insufficient, famously calling her platform an ‘incomplete test paper,’ and distrusts Lai far more than Tsai,” CFR expert David Sacks writes for the Asia Unbound blog.
“We should interrogate arguments suggesting that any outcome of this election will trigger either conflict or capitulation. The situation is far from either of those extremes and will remain so for as long as the center of gravity in Taiwan’s political system is for preserving and prolonging the cross-Strait status quo,” the Brookings Institution’s Ryan Hass writes for the Taipei Times.
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Australian Ban on Nazi Salutes, Symbols Enters Into Effect |
Australia’s bill was drafted (WaPo) in June after these symbols appeared at rallies. Following Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel, antisemitic incidents in Australia in October and November 2023 rose sevenfold from the same period the previous year, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. |
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Pakistan’s Supreme Court Overturns Lifetime Election Ban in Case of Criminal Convictions |
The ruling paves the way (Dawn) for candidates including former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to run in the country’s February 8 election. Sharif was convicted on corruption charges in 2017. Former Prime Minister Imran Khan is still not allowed (Reuters) to run by the ruling as there is a five-year time limit on his ban from running for office.
India/Maldives: One of India’s biggest travel platforms suspended bookings (Bloomberg) to the Maldives after one of the island’s deputy ministers posted criticisms of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi online. The official was suspended and India summoned the Maldives ambassador for consultation.
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Middle East and North Africa |
Blinken: Arab Countries Want Integration With Israel if There Is Path to Palestinian State |
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is holding meetings in Israel today following a tour through other countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia. He told reporters (Times of Israel, Reuters) in Saudi Arabia that Arab countries want normalization with Israel, but that it would require an end to the war in the Gaza Strip and a “practical pathway” to a Palestinian state.
For The President’s Inbox podcast, CFR expert Steven A. Cook discusses an Israeli-Saudi normalization deal.
U.S./Iraq: U.S. Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder said he was not aware (Reuters) of plans for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq after Iraq’s prime minister said last week that he would prepare a committee for such a withdrawal. Baghdad’s comments were in the wake of a U.S. strike on a militia leader inside Iraq.
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Kenya Plans Government Levy on Carbon Offsets |
Kenya plans to take (Bloomberg) at least 15 percent of earnings from land-based carbon offset projects and 25 percent from sea-based offsets, according to draft environmental regulations. Offset projects allow greenhouse gas producers to compensate for their emissions by paying for conservation efforts elsewhere, such as reforestation.
At this CFR meeting, experts discuss finance-based strategies to curb climate change. Somalia: President Said Abdullahi Deni was reelected (Bloomberg) yesterday for another five-year term in the semiautonomous region of Puntland, an oil-rich area home to about 4.9 million people. |
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France’s Macron Appoints Youngest Prime Minister in Modern History |
President Emmanuel Macron appointed (CNN) thirty-four-year-old Minister of Education Gabriel Attal as prime minister. Attal is the country’s first openly gay prime minister and the youngest person to hold the position in more than six decades.
U.S./Russia: A Moscow court said today that authorities detained (Time) joint U.S. and Russian citizen Robert Woodland Romanov on drug charges. In a social media post in September 2022, Romanov voiced opposition to the war in Ukraine but said he would serve in the Russian military if drafted.
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Ecuador Declares State of Emergency After Gang Leader’s Escape |
President Daniel Noboa Azín declared a two-month state of emergency yesterday as authorities seek to regain control (MercoPress) after riots broke out in jails across the country following the disappearance of José Adolfo Macías Villamar, the leader of Los Choneros, one of Ecuador’s most dangerous drug trafficking groups. Inmates were taking guards hostage and starting fires during the riots.
U.S./Guyana: A senior U.S. defense official for the Western Hemisphere concludes a two-day visit (Reuters) to Guyana today in the wake of tensions regarding Venezuela’s claims to Guyana’s oil-rich Essequibo territory. The visit underscores U.S. support for Guyana’s stability and security amid the dispute, the U.S. embassy in Guyana said.
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Federal Investigators Probe Boeing 737 Panel Blow-off |
Investigators said yesterday that a panel that detached (NYT) from a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane operated by Alaska Airlines could have done so because it was not screwed on properly. Regulators grounded such aircraft nationwide after Friday’s incident, pending inspection. United Airlines said yesterday that it found some loose bolts on its Max 9 planes, while Alaska Airlines also found “loose hardware.”
This Backgrounder by CFR’s Noah Berman unpacks the U.S. aviation industry.
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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