Good morning. Here’s your Daily Situational Awareness for Wednesday, 02 February 2022. You can receive this daily briefing by signing up at https://forwardobserver.com/daily-sa
TODAY’S BRIEFING:
- FBI ‘blown away’ by Chinese spying
- Electoral reforms begin
- WTO predicts supply chain issues into 2023
- Beijing Olympics a ‘liability’ for China
- Hazards Warning
UPGRADE TO EARLY WARNING AND GET THESE BRIEFINGS:
- Russia-NATO SITREP: NATO ‘ABANDONED’ RUSSIA, CZECH AMMUNITION EXPLOSION MYSTERY DEEPENS
- Indo-Pacific SITREP: MYANMAR AND THE PHILIPPINES GETTING WOBBLY
- LIC Summary/ INTSUM
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
FBI OPENS NEW INVESTIGATION EVERY 12 HOURS FOR CHINESE SPYING: The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Director Chris Wray stated that Chinese spying in the U.S. is so widespread the FBI must launch two counterintelligence investigations a day to counter it. China is focused on stealing U.S. technology to increase its capabilities while shortening the research and development time. The FBI currently has over 2,000 active counterintelligence cases related to China. (Analyst Comment: China used espionage to increase their technological abilities for years, at the expense of U.S. corporations and consumers. Corporate espionage is supported by the Chinese Communist Party with little concern for intellectual property rights as long as it supports China’s rapid rise. – D.F.)
ELECTORAL REFORMS BEGIN: Senate Democrats announced their update to the 1887 Electoral Count Act. In their proposal, one-third of Congress must support an objection to election certification and three-fifths for pursuing the objection. A separate bipartisan Senate group is working on their own proposal with reforming the 1887 Electoral Count Act; protecting election workers; voting practices and rights; the election assistance commission; and presidential transitions as the key legislative focus. (AC: Failed negotiations on “voting rights” reform may find a new home in Senate and House Electoral Count Act reforms. This is likely to renew concerns over a permanent one-party majority, cemented by legislative reforms. The Far Left’s efforts to federalize elections are likely to increase alongside the growing prospect of a Republican-controlled Congress in November. – D.M.)
WTO CHIEF FORECAST SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES INTO 2023: The World Trade Organization (WTO) director stated supply chain issues could continue into 2023. Prolonged supply chain conditions are lasting longer than WTO anticipated. Supply chain constraints continue due to high demand and limits in transportation capacity. The WTO expects inflationary pressures to have an impact on consumer demand this year. (AC: Optimistic estimates late last year from the WTO expected to see supply chain relief this month. Transportation capacity has not met expectation due to higher demand, bottlenecks at major ports, trucking labor shortages, and covid policy. – D.F.)
BEIJING WINTER OLYMPICS WILL LIKELY MISS THE MARK: The Beijing Winter Olympics appear to have changed from a revenue generating event to a liability for China. Coronavirus lockdowns throughout the country and travel restrictions into China have resulted in an invitation-only Olympics with little or no participation from Chinese citizens. China estimated in 2014 the Winter Olympics and the Paralympics would cost $1.56 billion in operational spending, according to a report from the International Olympic Committee. The investment was expected to bring long-term benefits to the region through tourism and engagement with Chinese citizens. Short-term revenue from ticketing was estimated at the time to be $118 million. Under the invitation-only restrictions, the games will likely bring in only a fraction of the originally estimated short and long-term revenue. (AC: China’s zero-COVID policy effectively doomed the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) concern that a massive COVID outbreak would make the nation appear weak and unable to implement effective COVID controls resulted in a gross overreaction. The additional loss of revenue in decreased manufacturing – a restriction imposed by the CCP to decrease air pollution in and around the Olympic games – will likely result in two quarters of missed productivity projections. – M.M.)
HAZARDS/WX:
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