Daily Brief: Trump, in Beijing, Presses for Action on North Korea

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. November 8, 2017 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA Trump, in Beijing, Presses for Action on North Korea U.S. President Donald J. Trump arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a visit during which North Korea and the U.S.-China trade imbalance are expected to top the agenda. In an address to South Korea's National Assembly earlier in the day, Trump called on China to confront North Korea, saying the "longer we wait, the greater the danger grows" (NYT). U.S. and Chinese companies signed trade deals worth $9 billion on Wednesday, including one Chinese retailer's purchase of $1.2 billion in U.S. beef and pork (AP). Details of other deals were not yet made public. On the eve of Trump's visit, the U.S. Senate approved new sanctions targeting Chinese banks that do business with North Korea (Reuters). ANALYSIS "The U.S. and China have managed to keep their ties on a relatively even keel, despite the disappearance of the original rationale for their relationship—shared antipathy toward the Soviet Union—when the Cold War ended a quarter-century ago," CFR President Richard N. Haass writes for Project Syndicate. "Trump's China and Asia strategies remain muddled because of competing factions within his administration and his tenuous domestic position. Xi, accordingly, will seek to manage Trump, giving him a lavish welcome in China but few policy wins of any lasting significance," Mira Rapp-Hooper writes for Foreign Affairs. "The United States' ability to enunciate and pursue a coherent Asia strategy balancing firmness in defense of international law and norms, on the one hand, and prudence, on the other, will have an important impact on how the region views its leadership role," Lynn Kuok writes for the Brookings Institution. PACIFIC RIM Former Philippine President Charged Over Botched Raid Former President Benigno Aquino III was charged with graft and usurpation of authority over his authorization of a 2015 raid (Phil Star) against a suspected terrorist and bomb maker that led to the deaths of more than sixty people, including forty-four commandos.  SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA NATO to Increase Afghan Deployment The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has announced an additional three thousand troops (RFE/RL) for its training mission in Afghanistan, with half of the deployment coming from the United States. The additional troops bring the total for the NATO mission there to sixteen thousand. Mara Karlin writes in Foreign Affairs that building up militaries in weak states is not a panacea to enhance U.S. national security. INDIA: The Indian Medical Association has declared a public health emergency in New Delhi (Al Jazeera) as toxic smog enveloped the capital city this week. Authorities ordered schools closed and flights delayed as the chief minister of Delhi state called the city a "gas chamber" (NYT). MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Saudi Blockade Imperils Aid to Yemen The United Nations and Red Cross has called Saudi Arabia's closure of all routes into Yemen "catastrophic" for delivery of aid to the war-torn country (BBC). Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for launching a ballistic missile toward the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Saturday, prompting the blockade. Saudi Arabia alleges Iran supplies weapons to the rebel group through these routes. SYRIA: Syria has announced its intention to join the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate at a conference in Bonn, Germany, making the United States the only nation (WaPo) outside the pact.  SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA U.S. Commends DRC on New Election Schedule The U.S. State Department said it "notes the importance" (Africa News) of an announcement this week by the Democratic Republic of Congo's electoral commission that a long-awaited election to replace President Joseph Kabila will be held December 2018. The vote has been repeatedly delayed since late 2016 (Reuters). Philip Kleinfeld discusses rights abuses in DRC's Kasai region in Foreign Affairs. ERITREA: Eritrea is the top country of origin among African asylum seekers (Africa News) in Libya, and is second only to Syria among all those seeking asylum in the country, according to new data from the United Nations. EUROPE Turkish Court Upholds Sentence for Opposition Lawmaker A Turkish court rejected an appeals court's order to retry Enis Berberoglu (Reuters), chairman of the opposition Republican People's Party. Berberoglu was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for military espionage over allegedly sending to a newspaper video of the Turkish military shipping weapons into Syria. CFR's Steven A. Cook writes in Foreign Policy that the U.S.-Turkey alliance was built on a myth. SWEDEN: Sweden said Tuesday it will start negotiations to buy a $1.2 billion missile defense system (DW) from the U.S. weapons manufacturer Raytheon, turning down a system by the Franco-Italian company Eurosam. AMERICAS Argentina's Macri Says Prosecutor's Death Was Murder President Mauricio Macri said Tuesday that a high-profile prosecutor who died under mysterious circumstances was murdered (AP). The prosecutor, Alberto Nisman, died four days after he accused former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of covering up Iran's role in a 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish center that killed eighty-five people. URUGUAY: Uruguay's foreign minister has asked Caracas to pay debt owed to Uruguayan companies stemming from a 2015 deal that allowed Venezuela to purchase more than two hundred thousand tons of food products (LAHT) for $300 million. UNITED STATES U.S. Charges British Defense Firm Over Bribery The Justice Department has announced criminal charges against four people accused of a bribery scheme to help the British defense manufacturer Rolls-Royce win contracts in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan (RFE/RL). The company admitted in January to paying officials at state energy firms in Angola, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Iraq, Kazakhstan, and Thailand. Democrat Ralph Northam won Tuesday's gubernatorial race in Virginia (WaPo) with 54 percent of the vote, saying in a victory speech that voters want to "end the politics that have torn this country apart." Democrats also took the governorship in New Jersey and won a contested New Hampshire mayoral race (NYT).          Council on Foreign Relations — 58 East 68th Street — New York, NY 10065 CFR does not share email addresses with third parties. Forward This Email | Subscribe to CFR Newsletters | Unsubscribe - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  

From: dailybrief@e.cfr.org

Date: November 08, 2017 at 11:03PM