Good morning. Here’s your Situational Awareness for Friday, 16 September 2022.
TREASURY CONTINUES TO WAGE WAR AGAINST RUSSIA: U.S. officials are targeting Turkey in the ongoing fight against Russian finances. Treasury officials are warning at least five of Turkey’s largest banks connected to Russia’s Mir international payments system that they could be at risk of sanctions evasion violations. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo traveled to Turkey in June to meet with financial institutions on illicit Russian financing. Meanwhile, the Department of the Treasury continues to announce further actions against foreign finance and Russian businessmen attempting to skirt sanctions.
CHINA EYES CENTRAL ASIA FOR ENERGY DEVELOPMENT: As part of the on-ongoing Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping is meeting with leaders of several central Asian countries in hopes of diversifying Chinese energy imports. These meetings follow announcements by Xi of the expansions of China’s Belt and Road Initiative into Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
CHINA LINING UP SANCTIONS AGAINST CEOS OF BOEING AND RAYTHEON: According to a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, China will impose sanctions against the CEOs of Boeing Defense and Raytheon over their involvement in the latest package of arms sales to Taiwan. The arms sale, 60 anti-ship missiles, and 100 air-to-air missiles, was announced in the wake of Chinese military exercises, which effectively blockaded the island of Taiwan for several weeks last month. Foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning added that the “sanctions were to protect China’s sovereignty and security interests” since Taiwan is a part of China.
WILL JAPAN GET U.S. F-22 STEALTH FIGHTERS? The Pentagon is seeking to retire two dozen F-22 Stealth Fighters instead of paying the $1 billion upgrade cost for keeping them flying over the next decade. Some Indo-Pacific analysts are calling for the U.S. to sell the F-22 to Japan instead of sending them to the long-term storage facility at Davis Monthan Air Base in Arizona. The F-22s remain the premier 5th generation fighter in the world today, and Japan is in need of a strong deterrent force to keep China out of their southern islands. The 24 F-22s, which cost about $507 million apiece in 2022 dollars, could be upgraded for slightly less than $1 billion and sold to Japan in an export configuration.
In today’s Early Warning, Mike looks at the potential for disaster in China. Plus, the team covers global and domestic events, including the SA items above, with analyst commentary. For access to the full briefing, head over to: https://forwardobserver.com/subscribe