Good morning, and welcome to the Global Situation Report for Wednesday, 03 July 2024.
- Global Rollup
- China’s Coast Guard (CCG) boarded and seized a Taiwanese fishing vessel near Kinmen, the island territories nearest to the Chinese mainland. Taiwan’s Coast Guard attempted to thwart the arrest but broke off the attempt to avoid escalation.
- Chinese electric vehicle battery and auto parts manufacturers are investing in Morocco to circumvent the U.S. and European attempts to decouple from China. Chinese companies have invested over $8 billion so far.
- Norway arrested a man accused of spying for China after he returned from a trip to Beijing with “data-carrying devices.” The man’s identity is concealed for the preliminary phase of the investigation. The Chinese Embassy in Norway immediately released a statement declaring Norway irresponsible and a propagator of the “Chinese threat.”
- Germany blocked a Chinese company from buying a German gas turbine company due to “security concerns.” (This particular company makes large gas and steam turbines for marine vessels. Germany’s decision is likely to prevent China from stealing and replicating the technology for the People’s Liberation Army Navy and Chinese shipbuilders. – J.V.)
- Hundreds of third-place candidates are dropping out of the French election as Macron’s Renaissance party and the leftist New Popular Front agreed to form a coalition to prevent the National Rally from achieving an absolute majority. (Macron’s centrist party won third place overall and will likely have the majority of the dropouts, facilitating a hollow center in French politics. – J.V.)
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.