Good morning. Here’s your Daily Situational Awareness for Tuesday, 14 December 2021. You can receive this daily briefing by signing up at https://forwardobserver.com/daily-sa
TODAY’S BRIEFING:
- SECSTATE vows to push back against China
- Rule changes for Chinese imports to further disrupt trade
- China orders factory slowdown ahead of Olympics
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
SECSTATE VOWS TO PUSH BACK AGAINST CHINA: Secretary of State Anthony Blinken vowed to push back against China in the Indo-Pacific, according to comments made this morning. Blinken is in Indonesia to sign agreements to expand maritime cooperation and joint U.S.-Indonesia naval exercises, and then travels to Malaysia and Thailand for high-level meetings. (AC: As a part of this push back, Blinken is fostering increased military cooperation between regional Indo-Pacific powerhouses like Japan, Australia, and South Korea. Australia, for instance, recently agreed to a $717 million defense purchase of K9 howitzers, military vehicles, and radar systems from South Korea, which deepens military and diplomatic ties between the countries. Blinken also made mention of a new strategy that included “diplomacy, military, [and] intelligence” cooperation with an expanded number of Asian countries. Marines are also conducting Expeditionary Advanced Basing Operations in Japan this month, testing out a new strategy to quickly build small military bases on Japanese islands. This amounts to a long-standing concept of an “Asian NATO” military alliance to counter China. – M.S.)
CHINESE FOOD IMPORTS: Chinese authorities are set to implement new rules on food imports. U.S., Australian, Japanese, and other officials have asked China to delay the rules changes for 18 months to avoid increasing supply chain crunches. Those changes include new inspection and labeling requirements, and require all foreign manufacturers of food products to register with Chinese authorities.
OLYMPICS-INDUCED SHORTAGE: The Chinese government requested that certain factories across 64 cities in the nation reduce emissions ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics to reduce smog. Raw materials production will likely suffer from the slowdown, resulting in supply-side shortages for industries including coal, steel, and aluminum. Chinese supply chains are expected to feel the pressure until mid-March, when the Olympics ends. As a result, international trade will continue to experience increased order backlogs. Unparalleled demand currently plagues several Chinese factories and the shortage of production will likely increase backlogs for international trade centers trying to accumulate raw materials.
HAZARDS/WX:
In today’s Early Warning, Max explores threats to domestic businesses from Chinese acquisitions. Upgrade your Situational Awareness to Early Warning here: https://forwardobserver.com/subscribe