Good morning, and welcome to the Global Situation Report for Monday, 15 July 2024.
- JAPAN’S NEW PACIFIC ISLAND STRATEGY OFFERS A THIRD WAY: The Japanese government announced a new diplomacy strategy with the Pacific Island nations.
- Japan intends to increase Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force port visits and exercises, sell patrol boats, lay down new undersea internet cables, provide fishery research vessels and training, and build travel infrastructure.
- The Japanese government will also offer Japanese language courses to facilitate integration with all of the infrastructure and other training.
Why It Matters: This is a similar playbook to the Chinese and appears to offer the Pacific Islanders a way to maintain trade with China while not having to necessarily side with the United States or Taiwan. Effectively, the Japanese are offering an option that hurts China’s security posture without forcing the small nations to take a side in a potential war. – J.V.
- Global Rollup
- Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed condolences to Donald Trump following the assassination attempt. Chinese state media claims the assassination attempt is indicative of “rampant gun violence” and a worsening political situation in the U.S.
- Canada reportedly mapped out covert Chinese police stations inside of Canada and sought to coordinate a response with other G7 members. The map is not yet public. China’s Embassy to Canada and the Foreign Affairs Ministry deny the existence of the police stations and say the accused locations are simply volunteer-run to help its diaspora with document renewal and “other services.”
- India appointed a “China expert” as its new Foreign Secretary. Vikram Misri, the new secretary, formerly served as Ambassador to China and the Deputy National Security Advisor. Indian media reports that he was heavily involved in settling the 2020 Galwan Valley crisis.
- Polish Foreign Affairs Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told the media that Poland had facilitated U.S.-China talks in the past, but if China forced Poland to choose, they would choose the U.S. despite China being the larger trade partner.
- Several European heads of the green industry expressed concern about the future of green tech in the West. The former CEO of Umicore, Mathias Miedreich, and current president of TotalEnergies, Stephane Michel, and an unnamed executive of a European chemicals group told media that funding is now only for “the right project” and that most timelines have quietly moved back from 2030 to 2032 and are likely to be further delayed.
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.