Good morning, and welcome to the Global Situation Report for Monday, 10 June 2024.
- UPCOMING DNI REPORT AIMS TO UNSEAT XI: The U.S. is expected to publish a Director of National Intelligence report on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s large net worth and potential corruption.
- An older Congressional Research Service report estimated his net worth over $700 million distributed to family members and associates in an effort to hide the money.
Why It Matters: Accusations of corruption have taken down many Chinese officials in the past few years. Xi is considered to be the second-most influential Chinese leader, right behind Mao, and the lynchpin to China’s rise in the 21st century. Removing Xi would likely see China recede as Xi has no named heir, and officials would vie for power. I expect this dethroning attempt to fail, as China will classify this as Western interference in internal affairs and justify further aggression against the U.S. – J.V.
- Global Rollup
- China told the Philippines that it would allow some resupply missions as long as the Philippines notified the Chinese ahead of time. The Philippines rejected the offer with numerous public statements. (China previously offered a very similar arrangement, which the Philippines laughed off and provided few public rebuttals. However, China went on to take coercive actions, claiming that the previous offer was the standard. We are likely to see this repeated despite the Philippines’ numerous public rebuttals. – J.V.)
- The Dutch navy said two Chinese fighters and a Chinese helicopter conducted dangerous maneuvers around a Dutch frigate while it was conducting a UN Sanctions Enforcement mission on North Korea.
- French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the French parliament to hold snap elections after Marine Le Pen’s National Rally won 31% of the French representation in the European Union. Elections will be held on 30 June and again on July 7.
- Ukraine intends to base most of its F-16s outside of Ukraine “so that they are not targeted here,” according to Ukraine’s head of aviation. (Russian President Vladimir Putin previously stated that he would authorize strikes against international bases holding Ukrainian weapons. This is less about keeping the planes safe and more about Ukraine trying to drag the West into the war. – J.V.)
- The BRICS+ Foreign Ministers’ meeting kicked off today and focused on developing a system for payments in national currencies.
THAT’S A WRAP: This does it for today’s edition. Thank you for reading. If you know folks who would also like to receive this email, would you please forward it to them? We appreciate you spreading the word. – M.S.