๐ŸŒ Xi Jinping flies to Russia in show of support for Putin


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Hi there Intriguer.ย There are plenty of ways AI could aid policymakers. The Romanian Prime Minister โ€˜hiredโ€™ an AI-powered advisor in the form of a full-length mirror. But a member of the European Parliament has found an even better use for ChatGPT: writing a diss track against Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban: โ€œItโ€™s time to clean up, itโ€™s time to fight. We wonโ€™t back down until Orbanโ€™s out of sightโ€. Honestly, weโ€™ve heard worse.

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Todayโ€™s briefing is a 4.8 min read:

  • ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณย Xi Jinping visits Moscow.

  • ๐ŸŒฑ UN scientists release their latest climate change report.

  • โž• Plus: Japanese PM Fumio Kishida heads to Ukraine, how the papers are covering Trumpโ€™s possible indictment, and some fun facts about Chinese President Xi Jinping.

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– Valentina, Ethan and Jeremy

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๐ŸŽง Todayโ€™s Intrigue Outloud:ย Go deeper on a former Taiwanese presidentโ€™s visit to China, and Colombiaโ€™s decision to suspend a ceasefire with a drug cartel.

๐Ÿ—บ๏ธ AROUND THE WORLD

Hit reply and tell us what you think of our new map!

  1. ๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ตย 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. ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ทย 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), Franceโ€™s ninth this year.

  3. ๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฐย 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. ๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ดย Colombia: Military operations against Colombiaโ€™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 โ€œtotal peaceโ€ in Colombia, but accused the cartel of breaking the ceasefire last week.

  5. ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡พย Syria: The UAE welcomed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday. Assadโ€™s efforts to break out of international isolation have gathered considerable speed since last monthโ€™s devastating earthquake.

๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ CHINA | FOREIGN POLICY

Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin share a โ€œno limitsโ€ handshake.

Xiโ€™s visit gives Putin a boost

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Briefly: Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Russia on Monday for a three-day state visit, his first to Moscow since Russiaโ€™s invasion of Ukraine. Xiโ€™s meeting with his neighbour and โ€œdear friendโ€ Vladimir Putin comes just days after the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for Putinโ€™s arrest.

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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:

  • Chinaโ€™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.

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

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Intrigueโ€™s take: This was all pretty predictable stuff. But sometimes international summits are more notable for what doesnโ€™t happen. And that list is a little more interesting:

  • Xi didnโ€™t offer military support for Putin (at least, not publicly)

  • He didnโ€™t offer new economic support

  • He didnโ€™t offer technical support (like the provision of semiconductors)

  • He stayed silent on Russiaโ€™s proposed new gas pipeline to China

  • He stayed silent on Russiaโ€™s annexation of Ukrainian territory

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

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Arguably, the most valuable thing Putin got out of this summit was his photo opp with Xi. When youโ€™re an international pariah, thatโ€™s clearly valuable. But when you reflect on the long list of favours Putin didnโ€™t get, itโ€™s possible this summit reveals Chinaโ€™s โ€œdomination of Russia is completeโ€โ€ฆ which, from Beijingโ€™s perspective, mightโ€™ve been the whole point of the trip.

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Also worth noting:

  • In parallel, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida paid a surprise visit to Ukraine, becoming Japanโ€™s first post-war PM to visit a warzone. He said, โ€œI really feel anger at the atrocity upon visiting every place hereโ€.

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

Who gains more from closer China-Russia ties?

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๐Ÿ“ฐ GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES

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How different newspapers covered: The potential imminent arrest of former US President Donald Trump.

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Links: SCMP, Zeit Online, BBC.ย ย 

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Todayโ€™s briefing is sponsored byย Todoist

Organize your work and life, finally.

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๐ŸŒฑ UN | CLIMATE

Two roads divergedโ€ฆ

โ€œCritical moment in history,โ€ says UN climate report

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Briefly: The world will soon burn through its โ€œcarbon budgetโ€ and may surpass the key threshold of 1.5C of warming by 2030, according to a new report from the UNโ€™s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

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

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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.

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Intrigueโ€™s take: Mercifully, the report does offer some hope. It says we already have the knowhow and capital to get the job done. Itโ€™s just a matter ofโ€ฆ getting the job done.

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The IPCC notes several mitigation options (like solar, wind, electrification etc) are โ€œbecoming increasingly cost effective and are generally supported by the public.โ€ Plus, plenty of countries have shown itโ€™s possible to cut emissions without hurting growth.

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

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Also worth noting:

  • Not mincing his words, UN Chief Antรณnio Guterres described the report as a โ€œsurvival guide for humanityโ€ and โ€œan atlas of human suffering and a damning indictment of failed climate leadershipโ€.

  • The worldโ€™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.

๐Ÿ‘€ EXTRA INTRIGUE

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

  1. According to legend, Mao Zedong himself intervened to stop the execution of Xiโ€™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 โ€œSino-US Friendship Houseโ€. Today the house-turned-museum stands nearly empty.

  3. Xiโ€™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.

๐Ÿ“ธ PHOTO OF THE DAY

Alina Yarysh/Reuters

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Howโ€™s that for timing?

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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 โ€œUkraine today may be East Asia tomorrowโ€ and has delivered billions in (non-lethal) aid to Ukraine, while pledging to boost Japanโ€™s military spending.

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Mondays are a slog for everyone including our polling software, which somehow lost all your responses to yesterdayโ€™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: โ€œSome people LOVE to HATEโ€

  • J.S: โ€œTick, tock, tick, tock…โ€

  • S.P: โ€œHeโ€™s a moron who shouldnโ€™t leave Bakersfield.โ€

  • P.B: โ€œReally?? If you believe that, I have $157 million dollars for you to hold for me.โ€

  • D.G: โ€œVanuatu is being quiet about all this. Too quiet.โ€

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