Jake Sullivan Makes First Visit to China by U.S. National Security Advisor in Eight Years |
Sullivan began a three-day visit to Beijing today that continues a push to stabilize U.S.-China relations since they hit a low point in early 2023. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the talks aim to “overcome interference and remove obstacles” to stronger bilateral ties, while Sullivan said the two countries are “working to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict.” Sullivan and Yi are expected to discuss topics including trade, fentanyl, and military tensions in the Pacific and regarding Taiwan.
Several events ahead of the visit have thrown tension points in the bilateral relationship into sharp focus. Japan’s most senior government spokesperson said today that a Chinese military plane violated Japanese airspace for the first time in a “totally unacceptable” move that threatened national security. On Sunday, China opposed new U.S. sanctions on Chinese firms accused of aiding Russia’s war machine, calling on Washington to stop the “wrong practices.” (Reuters, Nikkei, FT, AP)
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“The U.S. increased the number of competitive steps it was taking [in recent months], but also was able to stabilize the relationship. So the [current] phase is simultaneously the best U.S.-China relations had been, and also the most the U.S. has done to improve its competitive position and advance its interests simultaneously,” CFR Senior Fellow Rush Doshi tells The President’s Inbox podcast.
“It’s not simply the tensions in the relationship that make the Sullivan-Wang ‘strategic channel’ important,” the Center for American Progress’s Alan Yu tells Nikkei. “It’s the complexity of the agenda and the respective domestic political environments.” Dive deep into the U.S.-China relationship with CFR’s China Strategy Initiative. |
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UN: Sea Levels Are Rising Faster in Pacific Than Elsewhere |
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned of devastation for fishing, tourism, and other coastal economies today while discussing the results of two new UN studies at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders in Tonga. One found that average sea level rise was around 9.4 centimeters globally between 1993 and 2023, but more than 15 centimeters in some parts of the tropical Pacific. (Nikkei, UN News)
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India’s Modi Holds Separate Calls with Biden, Putin |
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the war in Ukraine in separate calls yesterday and today with U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin. These one-on-ones followed his visit to Ukraine last week. Modi “expressed full support for early return of peace and stability” to Biden, a readout from India said; the White House readout said both leaders support “a peaceful resolution of the conflict in accordance with international law, on the basis of the UN Charter.” (Bloomberg, Hindustan Times)
Bangladesh/India: Flooding in Bangladesh over the past week has affected nearly five million people and sent tensions with India soaring. Bangladesh accused India of not giving a standard warning when they released water from a dam in a neighboring state. Indian authorities denied deliberate intent to unleash the water, citing a power outage and communications breakdown. (CNN)
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Middle East and North Africa |
UN Forced to Pause Main Aid Operations in Gaza Amid Evacuation Order |
An Israeli evacuation order on Sunday for part of the central Gaza Strip hosting a UN operations center caused aid operations to shut down, an unnamed senior UN official told press yesterday. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees operates differently and was still able to deliver aid yesterday, but is facing challenges in carrying out the job, a field director said. The temporary pause on main UN operations comes as health workers hope to carry out a polio vaccination campaign. (Reuters, CNN)
Kuwait/Qatar: Kuwait signed a new fifteen-year deal to buy liquefied natural gas from Qatar as a scorching summer has rendered its power supply unable to keep up with demand. The petrostate was forced to make rare power supply cuts in June. (Bloomberg)
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Sudan Dam Collapses, Heightening an Already Dire Water Crisis |
A dam collapse near the country’s de facto capital of Port Sudan over the weekend had killed at least thirty people by yesterday, a UN humanitarian agency said. Another two hundred have gone missing and around fifty thousand in total have been affected by the flooding. The city is home to aid agencies servicing hundreds of thousands displaced by Sudan’s civil war; the dam collapse puts residents at risk of disease outbreaks and a water shortage. (AP, RFI, Sudan Tribune)
At this CFR meeting, a panel of experts laid bare the urgency of Sudan’s humanitarian crisis.
Liberia: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) inked a new preliminary agreement to lend $209 million to Liberia. The forty-month deal reflects the fund’s confidence in the reform agenda of the country’s new government since President Joseph Boakai took office in January. (IMF, BBC)
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Ukraine Reports Second Day of Russian Air Barrage, Budget Gap for 2025 |
Russia launched more widespread air attacks across Ukraine today that killed at least five people, Ukrainian officials said. Yesterday’s missile attack killed at least seven people, the biggest air attack since the start of the war. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s prime minister said the country foresees a $15 billion shortfall in funding its budget for next year and aims to look for the resources from domestic sources, frozen Russian assets, or assistance from partners. (CNN, Kyiv Independent)
This article by CFR expert Heidi Crebo-Rediker looks at how the European Investment Bank can come to Ukraine’s defense.
France: A French prosecutor publicly detailed some of the motives for yesterday’s detention of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov, saying he was suspected of complicity in crimes including running an online platform that allows illicit transactions, child pornography, drug trafficking, and fraud. French President Emmanuel Macron said the detention was “in no way a political decision.” (Reuters)
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Canada Announces New Tariffs on Chinese EVs, Steel, and Aluminum |
Canada will impose a 100 percent tariff on imported Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) and a 25 percent tariff on imported Chinese steel and aluminum products in October, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced yesterday. He cited an “unfair advantage” that China gave to these products. China’s foreign ministry expressed “strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition” to Canada’s move. (CBC)
Jamaica: The IMF chose Jamaican Finance Minister Nigel Clarke to serve as one of three deputy managing directors beginning in late October. Clarke successfully steered fiscal reforms in his country. (Reuters)
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Democrats Sue Against New GOP-Backed Rules on Vote Certification in Georgia |
The lawsuit, which is backed by Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, challenges a new rule that allows election officials to carry out a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying election results. The suit says the rules could lead to post-election “chaos.” Georgia was at the center of former President Donald Trump’s attempts to claim there was voter fraud in the 2020 vote. A Republican state elections board member told CNN in an interview earlier this month that the new rules were about “protecting all voters.” (CNN)
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Council on Foreign Relations |
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