U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared that most of China’s claims in the disputed South China Sea are unlawful and said the world would not allow Beijing to treat the region as its “maritime empire” (State Dept.). 

Pompeo’s announcement could presage military confrontations with Beijing (NYT) and sanctions against Chinese companies. He aligned U.S. policy with a 2016 ruling from an international tribunal that found China had violated international law in the South China Sea; Beijing rejected the ruling. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson blasted Pompeo’s remarks (SCMP), saying China had no plans to become a maritime empire and accusing Washington of stirring up “disunity.”

Japanese Defense Minister Kono Taro said there were “several problems” with the U.S. military’s coronavirus-prevention measures (Japan Times) following an outbreak at several bases in Okinawa. Local authorities also reportedly struggle with a lack of information (Asahi Shimbun) from the U.S. military.

The United States shuttered five military bases (TOLO) in Afghanistan as part of a peace deal with the Taliban. A wave of violence has continued despite the agreement, with eleven people killed and dozens more injured yesterday in a Taliban attack (WSJ) on an Afghan intelligence agency.  
​
China/India: Chinese and Indian military commanders met today to finalize a framework for drawing down troops (Times of India) from the countries’ disputed border, Indian government sources said. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in a deadly border clash last month.

Two Bahraini men were again sentenced to death despite evidence that interrogators coerced their confessions by torture (NYT) in a case that has drawn international condemnation. The men were convicted for their alleged role in a bombing that killed a police officer in 2014.
​
Libya: ​The country’s national oil company blamed the United Arab Emirates for imposing a blockade that has stopped oil production (Bloomberg). The UAE backs rebel commander Khalifa Haftar in the Libyan civil war.

The three countries failed to reach an agreement over an Ethiopian dam (Al Jazeera) on the Blue Nile river. Ethiopia has pledged to begin filling the dam this month, which Egypt and Sudan fear could disrupt their water supplies.
​
DRC: The World Health Organization (WHO) is raising alarms about a growing Ebola outbreak (Al Jazeera) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which ended its tenth Ebola outbreak last month.

This CFR Backgrounder explains the Ebola virus.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the United Kingdom will bar the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei (Reuters) from the UK’s 5G network. The United States has pressured the UK and other allies against purchasing Huawei equipment, claiming it will allow the Chinese government to spy on them.

This CFR Backgrounder looks at Huawei, China’s controversial tech giant.
​
Armenia/Azerbaijan: Russia, the European Union, and the United States called for calm (RFE/RL) after two days of border clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan left at least four soldiers dead.

The United States is preparing to extend restrictions on nonessential travel to Canada and Mexico until at least late August, sources told Politico. It will be the fourth extension due to the coronavirus pandemic.
​
Suriname: The country elected opposition leader Chan Santokhi president yesterday, ending the rule (AFP) of Desi Bouterse, who a military court had convicted of ordering the executions of political opponents.

The federal government carried out its first execution (AP) in nearly two decades today after the Supreme Court allowed the execution to proceed. Daniel Lewis Lee was killed by lethal injection at a federal prison in Indiana despite the objections of his victims’ families. He had been convicted of killing a family in Arkansas in the 1990s as part of a plot to establish a whites-only nation.