July 2020
GLOBAL:
- The United States has ordered China to close its Houston consulate. The Trump Administration has already ramped up pressure on China on a wide range of issues: imposing sanctions on Chinese officials over policies in Tibet and Xinjiang; downgraded relations with Hong Kong after China implemented a new security law; and declaring Beijing’s pursuit of territory and resources in the South China Sea as illegal.
SOURCES: ASIA TIMES – SPUTNIK
GLOBAL:
- China orders US to close Chengdu consulate, in retaliation for the closure of China’s Houston consulate. The tit-for-tat consulate closures marked yet another round of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing.
SOURCES: NEW YORK TIMES – DW
ASIA PACIFIC:
wikipedia.com
- Chinese warplanes have violated Taiwan’s airspace on an almost a daily basis in recent weeks. In response, Taiwan’s defense forces carried out major live-fire drills on the country’s west coast, a likely site of any attempted Chinese amphibious invasion.
SOURCE: ASIA TIMES
ASIA PACIFIC:
- The United States and China have just simultaneously conducted military exercises in the disputed South China Sea, dueling big boat deployments that threaten to tilt the volatile maritime region ever closer to a superpower conflict.
SOURCES: ASIA TIMES – ASIA TIMES
ASIA PACIFIC:
wikipedia.com
- The Secretary of State of United States -Mike Pompeo- denounced that China’s expansive maritime claims across most of the South China Sea were “completely unlawful,” setting up potential military confrontations with Beijing and sanctions against companies as the United States seeks to push back Chinese activity in the region.
SOURCE: NEW YORK TIMES
ASIA PACIFIC:
wikipedia.com
- Philippines has officially called on China to comply -with a 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling at The Hague- against its expansive claims to the South China Sea.
SOURCE: ASIA TIMES
ASIA PACIFIC:
- Australia has rejected Beijing’s territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea in a formal declaration to the United Nations, aligning itself more closely with United States in the escalating row.
SOURCE: ASIA TIMES
ASIA PACIFIC:
- The US conducted simultaneous naval drills in the Pacific and Indian Oceans with democratic allies and partners Australia, Japan and India. The four countries comprise the on-off “Quadrilateral” defense arrangement, a concept that envisions establishing an “Asian Arc of Democracy” around authoritarian China.
SOURCE: ASIA TIMES
ASIA PACIFIC:
wikipedia.com
- US President Donald Trump signed a law that imposes sanctions on Chinese officials, businesses and banks that help China restrict Hong Kong‘s autonomy. China condemned the move, and vowed to retaliate with sanctions of its own.
SOURCE: DW
SOUTH ASIA:
wikipedia.com
- China has begun pulling back troops from along its contested border with India. This comes after weeks of tensions between the Asian nations following their worst border skirmish in more than five decades.
SOURCES: AL JAZEERA – OIL PRICE
SOUTH ASIA:
- India placed new hurdles on companies from bordering nations seeking government contracts, a move largely seen as New Delhi’s latest economic retaliation against China since the deadly border clashes between the two sides last month. The move came after the United States has urged India to reduce its dependence on China.
SOURCE: DW
SOUTH ASIA:
- Indian Navy has deployed almost its entire fleet of ships and submarines into the Indian Ocean. The moves are likely a clear signal to China: that India will not back down, either on land or sea. Furthermore, the move suggests that India is tightening its grip on the crucial Malacca Strait, a development that will surely set off alarm bells in Beijing.
SOURCE: ASIA TIMES
SOUTH ASIA:
- China is stepping up pressure on Bhutan to settle their bilateral border dispute. In addition to laying claim to more territory in Bhutan, Beijing has revived an old land swap deal that will require Thimphu to cede control over territory.
SOURCE: THE DIPLOMAT
SOUTH ASIA:
- The Pakistani Army allegedly deployed 20,000 to their disputed border with India amid increased tensions between New Delhi and Beijing. The development is being seen by Indian intelligence as part of Pakistan’s efforts to open up a two-front war with India.
SOURCE: GEOPOLITIC NEWS
EURASIA:
- The Russian government is reigniting its push into the Arctic, planning to build at least five new icebreakers which will be used to further develop the Northern Sea Route across Russia’s Arctic coast.
SOURCE: GEOPOLITICAL FUTURES
EURASIA:
- China and Iran finalized an agreement that contemplate Beijing would receive Iranian oil at a sharply reduced price in exchange expanding its economic involvement in a variety of fields, including infrastructure. Cooperation pact will put Iran firmly on China‘s Belt and Road Initiative and promises to change the region’s strategic calculus.
SOURCES: THE TIMES OF ISRAEL – ASIA TIMES
EURASIA:
- China has announced retaliatory sanctions against a group of United States politicians, days after Washington blacklisted a number of Chinese politicians for alleged human rights abuses of the Uighur minority in Xinjiang. Xinjiang houses large economic reserves, a large logistic center and communication facilities necessary to support the bridge between the PRC and the Eurasian continent.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
EURASIA:
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The representatives of Ukraine, Russia and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) agreed on establishing a complete ceasefire in Donbas, East Ukraine.
SOURCE: GLOBAL TIMES
SOUTH CAUCASUS:
wikipedia.org
- Azerbaijan and Armenia have clashed on their border in a new escalation of their decades-long territorial dispute. All-out war between the two countries could drag in regional powers including Armenia’s military ally Russia and Azerbaijan‘s patron Turkey, which compete for geopolitical influence in the strategic region.
SOURCES: AL JAZEERA
EUROPE:
wikipedia.org
- The United States would move its military headquarters out of Germany to Belgium, as part of the US plan to cut the number of US troops in Germany to 25,000. Some of the military personnel in Germany will be moved to other NATO countries. The key aim of the rotation is to reinforce NATO’s southeastern flank near the Black Sea, sending a message to Russia.
SOURCES: GEOPOLITICS NEWS
EUROPE:
NORD STREAM 2:
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The US House of Representatives approved an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, meant to expand US sanctions on companies involved in installing Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
SOURCE: GEOPOLITICS NEWS
EUROPE:
- The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the Bulgarian section of the TurkStream natural gas pipeline from Russia, known as Balkan Stream, is set to be completed as scheduled (by January 1 2021), despite USA sanctions on companies involved in Russian energy projects. The route goes through Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary to deliver gas to the European consumers.
SOURCE: RT
EUROPE:
- Under pressure from the United States, Georgia reversed its decision to break its contract with a US oil and gas company (Texas-based Frontera Resources). According to defenders of the company, the lawsuit against them in Georgia was a result of Russian influence.
SOURCE: EURASIA NET
MEDITERRANEAN SEA REGION:
- The United States has said it will conduct military training with the Republic of Cyprus drawing criticism from Turkey. Tensions have recently flared over Turkey’s drilling for gas off the island, with the EU calling the move illegal.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
MEDITERRANEAN SEA REGION:
- European officials warned Turkey against pursuing a survey mission looking for gas reserves near Greek islands in the eastern Mediterranean. France has called for sanctions. Turkey has rejected such claims.
SOURCE: DW
MEDITERRANEAN SEA REGION:
euronews.com
- Israel ratified the agreement – with Greece and Cyprus– of the EastMed pipeline, set to export gas to the EU. However, the Jewish state will need to overcome a number of challenges, including Turkey’s opposition to the project and a legal battle with Lebanon over the maritime borders. Ankara has long objected to the EastMed deal.
SOURCE: SPUTNIK
MEDITERRANEAN SEA REGION:
euronews.com
- Tension easing in East Med. Turkey has reduced the number of navy vessels in an area of the East Mediterranean where it disputes Greek jurisdiction over oil-and-gas drilling rights. Both are ready to enter negotiations.
SOURCE: DW
MIDDLE EAST:
- Facing a worsening economic crisis and with little chance of Western or oil-rich Arab countries providing assistance, Lebanon’s is looking east, hoping to secure investments from China. But help from Beijing risks alienating the United States, which has suggested such a move could come at the cost of Lebanese-U.S. ties.
SOURCE: THE DIPLOMAT
AFRICA:
- The Libyan House of Representatives has authorized Egypt to intervene in the Libyan conflict.
SOURCE: GEOPOLITICS NEWS
AFRICA:
- Egypt‘s parliament approves troop deployment in Libya. The move could bring Egypt and Turkey, who support rival sides in Libya‘s proxy war, into direct confrontation.
SOURCE: DW
AFRICA:
- MOZAMBIQUE: Both the United States and France are trying to become involved in patrolling the coast of Cabo Delgado, in Mozambique, in the context of possible support in the fight against insurgents. The French company Total recently bought control of area 1 of the Cabo Delgado gas field.
SOURCE: ALL AFRICA
