Good morning. Here’s your Situational Awareness for Thursday, 22 September 2022.
RUSSIA ON LOCKDOWN: Russian officials have locked down borders and established police cordons following the implementation of immediate conscription. One-way flights from Russia to non-extradition states and regional neighbors that don’t require visas immediately sold out minutes after Putin’s announcement. The rise of ticket sales precluded an order from Russia’s Defense ministry banning all ticket sales to Russian men aged 18- 65. Police and border guards have reportedly established cordons to search vehicles in further efforts to detect and prevent men from fleeing the country. – R.P.
CHINA PROMISES UTMOST EFFORT TO STRIVE FOR PEACEFUL REUNIFICATION OF TAIWAN: China again promised today to make the “utmost effort to strive for peaceful reunification of Taiwan.” This follows yesterday’s public offer of peaceful reunification, which was strongly rejected by Taiwan’s government. – M.M.
LITHUANIA PLACES TROOPS ON HIGH ALERT, DENIES RUSSIAN VISAS: Following Putin’s partial mobilization, Lithuanian defense officials issued emergency orders placing its rapid reaction force on high alert and reinforcing its border security. Lithuania’s foreign ministry also announced that the government would not issue visas to Russian citizens attempting to flee the mobilization orders. Defense and Foreign Ministry officials described the emergency moves as necessary security measures to prevent Russian “provocations.” – R.P.
NUCLEAR SAFE-WORD: CHINA FINDS THE END OF ‘NO LIMITS’: In a break from its ‘no limits’ friendship with Russia, China has urged peace following Putin’s call for mobilization and issuance of nuclear threats. In a news conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said China respects the “sovereign and territorial integrity of all countries” and called for peaceful negotiations. Wang urged all parties to engage in dialogue in observation of the “purposes and principles” of the United Nations to find a way to peacefully end the ongoing crisis in Ukraine that addresses the “legitimate security concerns” of all parties. – R.P.
TAIWAN TO PURCHASE $600 MILLION IN CORN FROM U.S.: In a move to shore up its strategic reserves, Taiwan will acquire $600 million worth of corn products from the state of Iowa in 2023-24. The announcement came yesterday from the Iowa Corn Group. The agreement includes 1.5 metric tons of corn and 250,000 metric tons of corn products. This is an increase of 18% over last year and it makes Taiwan the sixth largest consumer of U.S. farm exports. – R.P.
In today’s Early Warning, Mike provides the Weekly Economic Outlook with a glimpse into what we can expect for the rest of this year and where we are in the bubble pop, plus the team looks at how Democrats and Republicans are fighting over “dark money,” in addition to other domestic intelligence reporting. Get access to the full Early Warning brief here: https://forwardobserver.com/subscribe