Subject: Morning Brief: Xi Jinping renews calls for China’s reunification with Taiwan
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Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2019 07:59:27 -0600 (CST)

Xi Jinping Renews Calls for China’s Reunification With Taiwan

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MORNING BRIEF

Today's Global News from Foreign Policy

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01/02/2019

01/02/2019

TOP NEWS

Xi Jinping Renews Calls for China’s Reunification With Taiwan

Top News: In his first major speech about the disputed status of Taiwan, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for an end to Taiwanese self-rule. “Taiwan independence is … a dead end,” he said.

Taiwan’s government in Taipei has had de facto independence since 1949, and Xi’s speech marked 40 years of rapprochement. But China has long maintained its right to take back control over the island.

“We make no promise to abandon the use of force, and retain the option of taking all necessary measures,” Xi said.

Space: New Horizons, a NASA spacecraft, succeeded in flying past Ultima Thule, an icy object orbiting the sun in the Kuiper belt beyond Neptune, on New Year’s Day. Located some 4 billion miles from Earth, it is the most distant body ever explored. Messages from New Horizons now take more than six hours to reach Earth. The spacecraft was launched in 2006.

AFRICA

•  In central Mali, armed attackers raided a Fulani community, killing 37 people.

•  Somalia expelled United Nations envoy Nicholas Haysom after he raised concerns over the death of protesters at the hands of security forces.

•  For the second day running, the Democratic Republic of the Congo blocked internet and SMS services in an attempt to suppress any post-election violence as the country awaits official results.

AMERICAS

•  Far-right politician Jair Bolsonaro assumed the presidency of Brazil on Tuesday. In his inaugural address, he promised to crack down on crime and corruption. On Wednesday, he issued an executive order making the agriculture ministry responsible for key decisions about lands claimed by indigenous groups.

•  On the 60th anniversary of the Cuban revolution, Raul Castro, the First Secretary of the country’s ruling Communist Party, denounced U.S. President Donald Trump and the United States for its ongoing embargo on Cuba.

•  U.S. Strategic Command, which is responsible for nuclear weapons, apologized for tweeting: “#TimesSquare tradition rings in the #NewYear by dropping the big ball ... if ever needed, we are #ready to drop something much, much bigger.”

ASIA

•  Protests broke out in India after two women entered a Hindu temple in the state of Kerala. India’s Supreme Court ruled than women between the ages of 10 and 50 could no longer be banned from visiting the temple, despite tradition.

•  A law came into force in Vietnam allowing the government to require internet providers to remove content it does not like.

•  China issued lower crude-oil import quotas than it did for the same batch last year, Reuters reports.

EUROPE

•  Rescuers have discovered 19 bodies in the rubble of a building that collapsed on New Year's Eve in Magnitogorsk, Russia. Twenty-seven people remain missing.

•  A train accident on a bridge linking two Danish islands left six people dead, according to police.

•  In a New Year's Eve address, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would stick to his employment and pension reform programs, undeterred the widespread yellow-vest protests.

MIDDLE EAST

•  In order to comply with a local law in Saudi Arabia, Netflix took down an episode of “Patriot Act With Hasan Minhaj” in which the comedian criticizes the Saudi government.

•  Qatar’s cabinet approved Microsoft’s plan to build a global data center in the country.

•  U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on the sidelines of Brazilian President Jair Bolosnaro’s inauguration in Brasilia on Tuesday, to discuss continued cooperation on Syria after Trump’s announcement that the United States would withdraw its troops.

- By Benjamin Soloway

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