🌍 New US Human Rights report highlights violations amongst US allies

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🗺️ AROUND THE WORLD

1. 🇨🇳 China: Health officials in China approved a homegrown mRNA Covid vaccine after years of refusing to clear foreign-made vaccines for use. China’s leaders declared a “decisive victory” over Covid last month.

2. 🇪🇸 Spain: Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government handily survived a no-confidence vote brought by the right-leaning Vox Party on Wednesday. Observers say Vox was using the vote to build momentum ahead of local elections in May.

3. 🇸🇧 Solomon Islands: A state-backed Chinese firm has won a contract to develop a key port in the capital city of Honiara. The prime minister of fellow Pacific country Samoa warned the project could “morph into something else.”

4. 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic: Authorities have arrested a former presidential candidate for alleged corruption. Authorities say he and 18 others embezzled $350M and engaged in illegal campaign financing during the 2020 elections.

5. 🇺🇬 Uganda: Lawmakers have passed a new bill that would introduce additional criminal offences for homosexuality. Parliament voted for the bill 387 votes to 2, and it now goes to President Museveni for approval.

🇺🇸 US | HUMAN RIGHTS

US report finds “significant” human rights issues in US partners including India, Taiwan

Briefly: The US State Department published its annual Human Rights Report on Monday, detailing the human rights situation in 198 countries and territories.

It features plenty of grim info on places like North Korea, Russia, Iran, et al. And these days, that’s a bit like a newspaper announcing “Federal Agents Raid Gun Shop, Find Weapons” (amazingly, that headline is real).

But the annual Human Rights Report can also be notable in what it says about key US allies and partners. This year, examples include:

• 🇹🇼 Taiwan → Criminal libel laws mean a journalist could land in jail for “pointing out a fact… that injures the reputation of another”

• 🇮🇳 India → The lengthy list includes allegations of extrajudicial killings and even torture

• 🇯🇵 Japan → There were credible reports of violence or threats of violence targeting persons with disabilities and minority groups

Intrigue’s take: The annual US Human Rights Report is a neat illustration of the timeless ‘interests vs values’ dilemma: America’s values drive it to call out injustices, while its interests sometimes drive it to partner with the perpetrators.

How does the US resolve this dilemma? Its annual Human Rights Report calls out injustices, but in a way that doesn’t have to jeopardise core partnerships. Each year, US diplomats quietly emphasise that:

• The annual Human Rights Report covers the entire world. Even the most annoyingly good country (New Zealand) gets a light rap on the knuckles, so the US isn’t really singling anyone out.

• And Congress passed laws in the 1960s and 70s requiring these annual reports, so the State Department doesn’t really have a lot of choice.

Still, the report draws strong reactions every year: the President of Mexico called the State Department “liars” on Tuesday, as did China’s Foreign Ministry.

Meanwhile, we can see the same ‘interests vs values’ dilemma playing out in the White House: President Biden will co-host the second Summit for Democracy next week, but he still has to fist-bump the occasional autocrat along the way.

Also worth noting:

• Globally, more than twice as many people live under autocratic regimes as in democracies.

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Today’s briefing is sponsored by HubSpot

The Don of Delight, HubSpot co-founder Dharmesh Shah

The folks at HubSpot call him The Don of Delight. You can’t do that… but you can peek at his How to be a Leader ebook to learn how he built a resilient culture rooted in connection, kindness, and trust. Inside are four key lessons to help you navigate the nuances of world-class leadership, and be a proper catalyst for your people.

🇻🇪 VENEZUELA | POLITICS

Venezuelan oil minister resigns amid corruption crackdown

Briefly: Venezuela’s oil minister, Tareck El Aissami, resigned suddenly on Monday amid accusations of corruption at the state oil firm PDVSA. Later that evening, President Nicolás Maduro went on TV to announce a corruption crackdown.

But experts query Maduro’s motives. El Aissami is considered the architect of the sanctions evasion scheme that has helped keep Venezuela’s oil sector afloat, while lining the pockets of top officials. So the term “firing El Aissami for corruption” is a little like “firing LeBron James for basketball”.

Instead, El Aissami’s ouster was probably an olive branch to the US. Washington might be more inclined to lift sanctions on PDVSA now that El Aissami, a designated drug trafficker with a $10M bounty on his head, has stepped down.

Intrigue’s take: In his speech on Monday, Maduro urged Venezuelans to “go on the offensive against the corrupt, the bandits, the delinquents, the criminals.”

They might start at the top. In his decade in power, 7 million Venezuelans have fled the country, the GDP per capita has dropped by 87%, and oil output has collapsed from 3.5 million barrels per day in 1999 to 700,000 last year.

Meanwhile, the US has sanctioned Maduro’s son, stepsons and other confidants for their alleged involvement in money laundering, bribery and beyond.

Also worth noting:

• Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, yet its people live on $1.90 per day.

• Venezuela doesn’t publish inflation data, but prices likely surged 300% in 2022.

👀 EXTRA INTRIGUE

What we’re reading (and listening to) about a potential US TikTok ban.

• How a TikTok ban would impact the American economy ($)

• Is banning TikTok bad politics?

• Yes, of course we should ban TikTok

• Why the US should not ban TikTok ($)

🗺️ MAP OF THE DAY

Beer-ly beloved…

Beer is one of the most beloved alcoholic beverages worldwide, but nobody will be surprised to hear our Czech friends love their Lager just a little more than everyone else: they drink over 135 litres of brew per capita. And that’s actually the country’s lowest beer consumption since the 1960s.

Yesterday’s poll: Who gains more from closer China-Russia ties?

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 🇷🇺 Russia: without Beijing, Moscow would’ve folded long ago (33%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🇨🇳 China: Russia is keeping the West bogged down in Ukraine, while China gets cheap Russian energy (45%)

🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ ⚖️ It’s pretty balanced, actually (23%)

Your two cents:

• 🇨🇳 S.F: “First, China is not at war and can trade profitably with both sides. Second, as Russia declines, Russia’s hold on Siberia weakens and Russia’s influence on formerly Soviet Central Asia falters.”

• ⚖️ D.W: “In the short term, Putin appears to be the biggest beneficiary of the great photo op. But in the long term, Xi will use the cheap Russian fuel and the west’s focus on Ukraine to continue to expand China’s influence.”