Daily News Brief

September 6, 2024

Top of the Agenda

Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said their countries agreed to keep up the momentum in strengthening relations as Kishida visited Seoul today. It was Kishida’s last official visit to South Korea as prime minister before stepping down later this month. The two leaders have worked toward rapprochement to bolster military cooperation as well as trilateral cooperation with the United States. Last May, Kishida became the first sitting Japanese leader to participate in a bilateral summit in South Korea in twelve years.

That rapprochement included a deal to compensate Korean victims of Japanese forced labor during World War II, and today, Kishida reiterated support for a 1998 bilateral declaration that includes expressions of remorse for the suffering caused by Japan’s colonial rule. The two leaders also discussed ongoing efforts to respond to security threats from North Korea and its ties with Russia. (Yonhap, Nikkei)

Analysis

“While Prime Minister Kishida deserves credit for breaking the ice with Seoul, I do not see continued cooperation between Japan and South Korea as contingent on his presence,” the Pacific Forum’s Rob York tells Nikkei.

“With the opposition still not offering any serious alternative, [Japan’s ruling party] is unlikely to lose the election. But this election is all about the next general election and how to avoid weakening the legislative foundation that has allowed them to govern since [former Japanese Prime Minister] Abe Shinzo led them back into power in 2012,” CFR Senior Fellow Sheila A. Smith writes for the Asia Unbound blog.

Pacific Rim

The change comes as China’s birth rate is falling and introduces uncertainty for some American families who had been waiting to adopt Chinese children. The U.S. State Department is seeking clarification about how the move will affect those families, a spokesperson said. (NYT, AP)

For the Asia Unbound blog, CFR expert Carl Minzner sketches out China’s declining population.

South and Central Asia

The amount of funding tripled between 2021 and 2023 to hit $126 million, data from India-based Tracxn Technologies shows. The southern city of Bengaluru, home to India’s national space agency, has become a hub for the country’s start-up environment, Nikkei reported. In July, the government announced a new $119 million fund to support space start-ups. (Nikkei)

Bangladesh: Student demonstrators held rallies yesterday to mark one month since the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to neighboring India after mass protests that saw more than one thousand people killed. The protesters called for Hasina to return to Bangladesh to stand trial for events during the demonstrations. (BSS, DW, AP, Reuters)

Middle East and North Africa

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies said they would punt any coordinated increase in production down the line for at least two months to try to prop up prices. At their last meeting in June, they planned phased increases to bring oil output back up. (FT)

Israel/Palestinian territories: Israeli troops pulled out of the West Bank city of Jenin today after a ten-day military operation, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. While Israel’s military didn’t confirm the withdrawal, it said it had killed fourteen fighters, detained another thirty who were linked to aerial strikes, and dismantled explosives in the area. Jenin hosts a large refugee camp, which was heavily damaged in the operation. (WaPo)

Sub-Saharan Africa

A UN-backed fact-finding team blamed both sides in the country’s civil war for war crimes including murder, mutilation, and torture, and called for an “independent and impartial force” to be deployed to protect civilians. They said the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces committed crimes including rape, sexual slavery, and persecution on ethnic or gender grounds, and urged that an arms embargo be extended to cover the entire country. (AP)

On The President’s Inbox podcast, CFR expert Michelle Gavin discusses the war and humanitarian crisis in Sudan. 

Ghana: Accra announced the details of a debt restructuring offer for holders of around $13 billion in international bonds after reaching a deal with them roughly two months ago. A committee of international bondholders said they supported the offer, which would see bondholders forego around $4.7 billion of their loans. Chad and Zambia have used a similar debt negotiation framework, and Ethiopia is likely to follow. (Reuters)

Europe

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy briefed Western military officials today, including U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who announced a new $250 million defense assistance package. Zelenskyy called for donations of long-range weapons for Ukraine to strike deeper within Russia’s borders, something Washington has opposed. He is scheduled to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz later today. (RFE/RL, AP, AFP, Reuters)

Germany: Police are investigating a shooting yesterday that led to the death of a gunman near Munich’s Israeli consulate as a possible act of terrorism. No one aside from the gunman was hurt in the incident, which occurred on the anniversary of a 1972 terrorist attack on the Munich Olympics that killed eleven Israelis. (NYT)

Americas

The former prisoners were all Nicaraguan citizens and included thirteen members of a Texas-based evangelical church. The prisoners were flown to Guatemala, where they are expected to be processed as refugees. (NYT)

U.S./Haiti: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced $45 million in new aid to Haiti on his visit to the country yesterday and called for an extension of the mandate for a U.S.-backed international security mission. Its UN mandate is set to expire at the beginning of next month. (VOA) 

U.S. Campaign 2024

Speaking at the New York Economic Club, former President Donald Trump said that if elected he would reduce corporate taxes for firms that make their products in the United States and create a government efficiency board headed by automaker Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk. Trump also said he would “rescind all unspent funds” from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. He reiterated plans to increase tariffs to fund his policies and pressure firms to manufacture on U.S. soil. (Reuters, The Hill)

This candidate tracker by CFR’s Diana Roy and Noah Berman details the rest of Trump’s fiscal policy promises. 

Friday Editor’s Pick

In These Times tells the stories of Indian migrants who make the treacherous journey out of India with hopes of reaching the United States.

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