Good morning, and welcome to the Global Situation Report for Wednesday, 10 July 2024.
- Global Rollup
- The Chinese and United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Forces are conducting the latest Falcon Shield exercise in Xinjiang. The UAE flies the F-16 E/F and the French Mirage 2000, both of which were reportedly used in the first iteration in 2023. (China is almost certainly using this to get its pilots accustomed to fighting these specific aircraft, as they comprise 55% of Taiwan’s current fighters, and the F-16 is a top contender for the Philippines’ fighter upgrade purchase. – J.V.)
- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) via a meeting with the Thai Foreign Minister that they should guard against any influence from NATO.
- NATO is launching numerous projects with Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand, the Indo-Pacific Four (IP4), to deepen cooperation on artificial intelligence, disinformation, cybersecurity, Ukraine aid, ship maintenance, and weapon production.
- NATO will establish a new office and representative in Kiev in order to deepen relations with Ukraine. The alliance already established that Ukraine will not be joining NATO until the war is over. (The more direct cooperation and new office show that the alliance is serious about Ukraine joining after the war. – J.V.)
- The U.S. Army will dismantle the floating aid pier for Gaza within the next several days. The pier was first attached on 17 May but has only operated for 20 days since then due to a repair period.
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.