🌍 Xi Jinping flies to Russia in show of support for Putin

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🗺️ AROUND THE WORLD

1. 🇯🇵 Japan: Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to invest $75B in the Indo-Pacific by 2030 to counter growing Chinese influence in the region. Kishida unveiled the plans during a visit to India.

2. 🇫🇷 France: President Emmanuel Macron survived not one but two no-confidence votes on Monday, ensuring his controversial pension reforms will become law. Tensions remain high ahead of a national strike tomorrow (Thursday), France’s ninth this year.

3. 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka: The IMF has approved a $3B bailout to help Sri Lanka restructure its debt. The country is suffering through one of its worst-ever economic crises.

4. 🇨🇴 Colombia: Military operations against Colombia’s biggest criminal cartel have resumed after President Gustavo Petro suspended a ceasefire with the Clan del Golfo. Petro had announced the ceasefire in December as part of his plan for “total peace” in Colombia, but accused the cartel of breaking the ceasefire last week.

5. 🇸🇾 Syria: The UAE welcomed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday. Assad’s efforts to break out of international isolation have gathered considerable speed since last month’s devastating earthquake.

🇨🇳 CHINA | FOREIGN POLICY

Xi’s visit gives Putin a boost

Briefly: Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Russia on Monday for a three-day state visit, his first to Moscow since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Xi’s meeting with his neighbour and “dear friend” Vladimir Putin comes just days after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest.

On the agenda: Xi and Putin have loads to talk about – they both share a love of martial arts. But according to state media on both sides, key topics included:

• China’s proposed peace plan to end the Russia-Ukraine war

• A shared view that nuclear war “must never be unleashed”

• Concern at the new AUKUS pact, and

• Concern over NATO’s growing presence in Asia.

And the caviar and Siberian sturgeon must’ve been pretty good, because Xi also issued an invitation for Putin to visit China later this year.

Intrigue’s take: This was all pretty predictable stuff. But sometimes international summits are more notable for what doesn’t happen. And that list is a little more interesting:

• Xi didn’t offer military support for Putin (at least, not publicly)

• He didn’t offer new economic support

• He didn’t offer technical support (like the provision of semiconductors)

• He stayed silent on Russia’s proposed new gas pipeline to China

• He stayed silent on Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territory

And the leaders only signed two broad agreements. These agreements are mostly paper tigers, but can be a barometer for Beijing’s ambition: Xi signed 40 deals when he visited Saudi Arabi, and 33 when he visited Myanmar.

Arguably, the most valuable thing Putin got out of this summit was his photo opp with Xi. When you’re an international pariah, that’s clearly valuable. But when you reflect on the long list of favours Putin didn’t get, it’s possible this summit reveals China’s “domination of Russia is complete”… which, from Beijing’s perspective, might’ve been the whole point of the trip.

Also worth noting:

• In parallel, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida paid a surprise visit to Ukraine, becoming Japan’s first post-war PM to visit a warzone. He said, “I really feel anger at the atrocity upon visiting every place here”.

• Xi Jinping will reportedly call Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later this week to discuss China’s peace plan, which Kyiv has neither dismissed nor welcomed.

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Today’s briefing is sponsored by Todoist

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🌱 UN | CLIMATE

“Critical moment in history,” says UN climate report

Briefly: The world will soon burn through its “carbon budget” and may surpass the key threshold of 1.5C of warming by 2030, according to a new report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Scientists say the severity of climate events – droughts, floods, deadly storms – increases dangerously after 1.5C of warming.

And the world could warm by 3.2C this century unless nations lift their game. That level of warming would leave much of the planet inhospitable to plant, animal, and human life.

Intrigue’s take: Mercifully, the report does offer some hope. It says we already have the knowhow and capital to get the job done. It’s just a matter of… getting the job done.

The IPCC notes several mitigation options (like solar, wind, electrification etc) are “becoming increasingly cost effective and are generally supported by the public.” Plus, plenty of countries have shown it’s possible to cut emissions without hurting growth.

In other words, the IPCC’s message seems to be: we can do this. But now, more than ever, we must do it.

Also worth noting:

• Not mincing his words, UN Chief António Guterres described the report as a “survival guide for humanity” and “an atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadership”.

• The world’s two largest carbon emitters – the US and China – each continue to approve carbon-intensive energy projects. Likewise for many of the highest per capita emitters.

👀 EXTRA INTRIGUE

Chinese President Xi Jinping is striding the global stage again. But how much do you know about China’s leader?

1. According to legend, Mao Zedong himself intervened to stop the execution of Xi’s father, Xi Zhongxun, in 1935.

2. In 2013, a Chinese investor bought the house Xi stayed in as a guest during his 1985 trip to Iowa, and renamed it the “Sino-US Friendship House”. Today the house-turned-museum stands nearly empty.

3. Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, is a famous Chinese folk singer.

4. Xi Jinping is a lover of football. Under his leadership China has invested millions into promoting the sport across the country.

5. Xi likes American movies! In the 1980s, he said he was a fan of The Deer Hunter and The Godfather. In 2007, he told the US Ambassador he liked Saving Private Ryan and The Departed. In 2012, he slipped a Mission Impossible reference into conversation. And in 2015, he dropped some Sleepless in Seattle and House of Cards references.

📸 PHOTO OF THE DAY

How’s that for timing?

Japanese PM Kishida made a surprise visit to Kyiv yesterday, just as his neighbour Xi Jinping was meeting Putin in Moscow. Kishida has warned that “Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow” and has delivered billions in (non-lethal) aid to Ukraine, while pledging to boost Japan’s military spending.

Mondays are a slog for everyone including our polling software, which somehow lost all your responses to yesterday’s poll! While we work to fix the bug, here are some of the funniest responses we got in past polls, with absolutely no context for added humour.

• D: “Some people LOVE to HATE”

• J.S: “Tick, tock, tick, tock…”

• S.P: “He’s a moron who shouldn’t leave Bakersfield.”

• P.B: “Really?? If you believe that, I have $157 million dollars for you to hold for me.”

• D.G: “Vanuatu is being quiet about all this. Too quiet.”