China Criticizes U.S., Canada Over North Korea Meeting

Council on Foreign Relations Newsletter If you are unable to see the message below, click here to view. January 17, 2018 Daily News Brief   TOP OF THE AGENDA China Criticizes U.S., Canada Over North Korea Meeting Top diplomats gathered in Vancouver, Canada, on Tuesday for a meeting of twenty nations who backed South Korea during the 1950–53 Korean War to discuss imposing tougher sanctions on the North (Reuters). The countries agreed to go beyond UN measures and to impose unilateral sanctions to put pressure on Pyongyang. China and Russia were not invited to the talks (VOA), which were hosted by the United States and Canada. China criticized the host countries' decision to not include "major parties to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue," calling it "Cold War thinking" (CBS). Envoys from North and South Korea met again in the border village of Panmunjom on Wednesday for their second round of high-level talks (ABC) since last week. ANALYSIS "The summit hosts gave China more reason to maintain the status quo, even to harbor grievances and promulgate a storyline that the gathering was creating divisions in the international community more than it was building alliances," Gary Mason writes for the Globe and Mail. "It is high time that the United States shattered the decades-old North Korean propaganda that America is the chief culprit behind Korea's modern tragedies," Jongsoo Lee writes for CFR's Asia Unbound blog. "[South Korean President Moon Jae-in] must translate the opening of a temporary channel for dialogue with Kim Jong-un's isolated regime and the accompanying momentary pause in North Korean nuclear and missile testing into a window for nuclear dialogue between the United States and North Korea," writes CFR's Scott A. Snyder for the Hill. PACIFIC RIM Seven Dead After Myanmar Police Fire on Protesters Seven people died and thirteen more were injured (AFP) when police opened fire on demonstrators they accused of trying to take over a government office in Rakhine State. The clash followed a gathering of Rakhine Buddhists to mark the anniversary of the end of the Arakan dynasty (Al Jazeera). SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA Kazakh President Meets Trump at White House In a visit to the White House on Tuesday, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that Kazakhstan voluntarily gave up its nuclear weapons and has the "moral right" to speak with nations such as Iran and North Korea (VOA) about seeking such weapons. PAKISTAN: A top U.S. diplomat for South and Central Asia has urged Pakistan to boost its efforts fighting terrorists (Dawn) on its territory, meeting with Pakistani officials in Islamabad earlier this week. It was the first visit by a senior U.S. official (News) since President Donald J. Trump tweeted that Islamabad gives Washington nothing but "lies and deceit." Shuja Nawaz writes in Foreign Affairs that Trump's Pakistan policy is unlikely to change the country. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA U.S. Withholds $65 Million in Aid to Palestinians The United States announced on Tuesday that it will provide only $60 million of an expected $125 million (WSJ) to the UN Relief and Works Agency, which supports schools and health centers for displaced Palestinians. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "very concerned" about the U.S. decision. In Salon, CFR's Steven A. Cook discusses the unlikelihood of a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. YEMEN: Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it will transfer $2 billion to Yemen's central bank (AFP) to address economic crisis in the war-torn country. Five thousand children have died in the conflict in Yemen (AFP) since a Saudi-led intervention began in 2015, the United Nations said on Tuesday.  SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA Nigeria Releases Rehabilitated Boko Haram Suspects The Nigerian military has released 244 Boko Haram suspects (VOA), including more than a hundred women and children, who completed a deradicalization program (BBC) and denounced the militant group. SUDAN: Police used tear gas and batons on protesters demonstrating against rising commodity prices (Sudan Tribune) near the presidential palace on Tuesday. Earlier this month, Khartoum devalued its currency (Reuters) in line with recommendations by the International Monetary Fund. EUROPE EU Moves to Ban Nonrecyclable Packaging The European Commission unveiled a plan on Tuesday to ban nonrecycleable plastic packaging by 2030 (DW). The proposal must be approved by European governments and the European Parliament. SWEDEN: For the first time since the Cold War, Sweden will distribute brochures to nearly five million households on what to do in the event of a war (FT). The move comes as Sweden debates joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization amid a growing threat from Russia. AMERICAS Venezuelan Dissident Police Officer Dead, Caracas Says Oscar Perez, a former police officer and opponent of President Nicolas Maduro, was killed in a siege by security forces (BBC) near Caracas on Monday. The government called Perez a terrorist after he led a helicopter attack (NYT) on the country's supreme court and interior ministry in June. This CFR Backgrounder looks at Venezuela's humanitarian and political crisis. EL SALVADOR: A presidential spokesman said on Tuesday that El Salvador is in talks with Qatar on moving Salvadoran migrants deported from the United States (Al Jazeera) to the Gulf state for temporary employment. CFR's Edward Alden discusses the dangers deported migrants would face in El Salvador (Fortune). UNITED STATES Navy Officers to Face Homicide Charges Over Collisions Five U.S. Navy officers will face criminal charges, including negligent homicide, following two collisions in the Pacific last year (WaPo) involving the USS Fitzgerald and USS John S. McCain. A total of seventeen sailors died in the crashes. A former CIA officer was arrested on Monday and charged in a federal court in Virginia with mishandling national defense information (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: January 17, 2018 at 11:02PM