Daily News Brief

December 12, 2022

Top of the Agenda

Long lines formed outside medical centers and hospitals experienced staff shortages in some Chinese cities as an easing of COVID-19 restrictions appeared to trigger an increase in cases, Bloomberg reported. 

While the Chinese government has not reported a national surge in infections, it has also dropped testing requirements. A government official said visits to fever clinics were sixteen times higher (Reuters) than during the previous week. State media urged people in the capital, Beijing, not to call a medical hotline unless they are severely ill. Meanwhile, a government app that traces people’s travel history as a virus-prevention measure is set to be deactivated at midnight.   

Analysis

“Ideally, you would be prepared before you open the gates,” CFR’s Yanzhong Huang tells the New York Times. “This is really not a recipe for a smooth transition—it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

“If deaths start to rise sharply, it will not only mark a personal failure for [Chinese President Xi Jinping]. It will also raise questions about his judgment and the ability of China’s highly centralized power structure to make wise decisions,” the Financial Times’ James Kynge writes.

Pacific Rim

U.S. and Chinese envoys held two days of talks (SCMP) in the Chinese city of Langfang in preparation for U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China early next year. The Chinese foreign ministry called the talks, which included discussions of Taiwan’s status, “in-depth and constructive.”

CFR President Richard Haass discusses the outlook for U.S.-China and cross-strait relations.

South and Central Asia

Tens of thousands of people gathered in Bangladesh’s capital on Saturday to protest (Al Jazeera) high fuel prices and call for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Afghanistan/Pakistan: Shelling and gunfire from Taliban forces killed six civilians in Pakistan (BBC) yesterday in a town near the countries’ shared border, Pakistan’s military said. Subsequent fighting with Pakistani forces killed an Afghan soldier. 

Middle East and North Africa

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan asked Russian President Vladimir Putin (AP) to help implement a thirty-kilometer (nineteen-mile) security corridor on Turkey’s border with Syria. Russia promised to establish the corridor in a 2019 agreement that was never fully implemented.

U.S./Libya: The FBI arrested a Libyan man (VOA) suspected of making a bomb that blew up a U.S. passenger plane above Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. The bombing killed 270 people.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Nigeria’s military killed at least sixty children across six military operations since 2009, Reuters found. The children were reportedly suspected of being fathered by Boko Haram fighters or assumed to be helping the group.

The Global Conflict Tracker unpacks Nigeria’s ongoing battle with Boko Haram.

Zambia: The bodies of twenty-seven people believed to be Ethiopian migrants were found (BBC) on a roadside in Zambia. Police said they had likely suffocated while in transit.

Europe

Belgian police charged (Politico) Greece’s Eva Kaili, a vice president in the European Parliament, and three others with corruption in an investigation of alleged illicit lobbying by Qatar. 

Ukraine: Ukrainian forces struck the Russia-occupied city of Melitopol (NYT) in southern Ukraine. Russian state media said the strike used a U.S.-provided weapons system that can fire long-range guided rockets.

Americas

President Dina Boluarte agreed to ask Congress to hold elections (AP) following nationwide protests over the weekend that called on her to resign and schedule new presidential and legislative elections. Boluarte was sworn in as president after her predecessor Pedro Castillo Terrones was ousted last week.

Brazil: An electoral court is set to certify the results (Bloomberg) of October’s presidential election today. President Jair Bolsonaro has limited his public appearances since losing the vote but appeared at two events over the weekend.

United States

Thousands of teenagers across the country are being enrolled in Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) courses as an explicit graduation requirement or via automatic enrollment, the New York Times found. The Pentagon said requiring the courses, designed to educate students on the possibility of a military career, goes against its guidelines. 

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