Foreign Policy Update – USA Gov Policy

HONG KONG

In the last six months the world has witnessed freedom after freedom disappear in Hong Kong like pages of a novel unfolding to reveal more of a sinister plot. In the latest chapter this week Beijing pushed through yet another restrictive law that expelled four pro-democracy representatives. In reaction to the Tuesday move the entire opposition quit the Hong Kong Legislative Council. This marks the point when Hong Kong enters a puppet state status with Beijing. Simultaneously, the CCP is forcing education in Hong Kong to include pro-Beijing propaganda as it is no longer illegal to do so and there is no one to stop it.

JAPAN

This week in Washington the US and Japan reaffirmed that Host Nation Support has played an important role for ensuring the smooth and effective activities of the US Forces in Japan. The statement said the relationship remains “central to the US-Japan Alliance.” For more than 60 years the US-Japan Alliance has served as the cornerstone of peace, stability, and freedom in the Indo-Pacific region. With the rise of an aggressive China the Alliance is growing in importance for both nations. The statement comes a week after the conclusion of the 5^th Plenum Session of the Chinese Communist Party meeting which reaffirmed its intention for new and aggressive behaviors in the coming years. The State Department said the ongoing Agreement with Japan will strengthen and sustain the bilateral work to address shared regional and global objectives.

BRAZIL

The US and Brazil announced new priorities for the US-Brazil Environmental Framework Dialogue to enhance collaboration on urban environmental issues. This Dialogue also will build on a Declaration of Intent expected to be signed this month by Minister Salles and Chief of the US Forest Service Vicki Christiansen to renew and strengthen cooperation on forest, protected area, and fire management. The partnership aims to protect, enhance, and restore forests and biodiversity while improving the prosperity and well-being of indigenous peoples and local communities in the Amazon, including vulnerable populations, through, among other activities, fire prevention and management, aligned with the goals of the One Trillion Trees initiative, sound mining, and water and air resource conservation.

EUROPE

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The annual US – EU Strategic Dialogue on Humanitarian Affairs took place this week. The United States and the European Union are the two top donors to humanitarian crisis response globally and cooperate closely to alleviate the suffering of vulnerable people affected by emergency situations around the world. The meeting serves as opportunity to explore common approaches to address key global humanitarian emergencies, including the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on existing and protracted crises, coordination on response to humanitarian situations around the world, and common approaches to resolving operational challenges in crisis response.

CHINA

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo released a statement this week calling on Hong Kong-based officials to stop dismantling the “promised autonomy and freedoms of Hong Kong through politically motivated arrests.” The State Department designated four additional PRC and Hong Kong officials in connection with implementing the PRC-imposed National Security Law and threatening the peace, security, and autonomy of Hong Kong, pursuant to Executive Order 13936. The statement said the four have been “leaders or officials of entities, including any government entity, that have engaged in, or whose members have engaged in, developing, adopting, or implementing the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (NSL).”

The designation bars these individuals from travelling to the United States along with the blocking of their assets within the jurisdiction of the United States or in the possession or control of US persons. The US holds key figures accountable for their part in actively eviscerating the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong and undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy in an attempt to pressure the regime in Beijing to comply with the West’s international norms on human rights. To date, Beijing has not responded positively to any attempts to secure freedom for the people of Hong Kong.

DARIA NOVAK served in the United States State Department during the Reagan Administration, and currently is on the Board of the American Analysis of News and Media Inc., which publishes usagovpolicy.com and the New York Analysis of Policy and Government. Each Saturday, she presents key updates on U.S. foreign policy from the State Department.

Illustration: Pixabay

Quick Analysis

Russia Expanding Aggression

President Putin is using more than one pathway to enter Europe and undermine the West. While most of the world watches the conflict he initiated in Ukraine, the Russian government is actively pursuing a second front in a little noticed campaign in Cyprus. Although the corrupt Cypriot government ended its issuance of “golden passports” in 2020, Russian intelligence is functioning quietly there to transform this EU country into a Russian beachhead of illicit economic activity aimed at penetrating the capitalist West, according to Paul Goble of the Jamestown Foundation. Cyprus is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nor does it receive as much attention as those countries who are member states. That adds to its allure as a prime location for Russia to attempt to gain a European foothold. Last week a NATO report, cited in the European Daily Monitor, noted that Russian intelligence agents have been plotting to destroy European infrastructure across the continent to disrupt states supporting Ukraine. It further suggests that Putin’s immediate goal is to lay the framework for a future move against the security organization’s members. Hungary, in particular, is another country garnering Moscow’s attention as it opposes the Western response to Russian aggression. Russia is focusing its intelligence efforts on other European, non-NATO member countries in addition to Cyprus, including Austria, Malta, and Ireland. The NATO report suggests that Moscow has had success in disseminating the Russian political narrative in these states to advance its campaign against the West. The island of Cyprus is proving to be a good target for Moscow as it is an ethnically divided island that is part of the EU since 2004. Northern Cyprus, officially called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that is only recognized by Turkey. The division precludes it from joining NATO. As Goble suggests, “it offers Russia troubled waters in which to fish.” Over the last 20 years, he points out, Cyprus’ challenges have opened it to a massive influx of Russian citizens, who now comprise approximately 10 percent of the island state’s population. Over 2,900 residents are Russians who entered until the “golden passport” program that allowed wealthy or well-connected Russians to move to Cyprus. It also provided them with documentation to travel freely throughout Europe! Although less visible on the world’s radar than the war in Ukraine, Moscow is also being helped by Cyprus’ banks opposition to seizing Russian assets and its support in evading Western sanctions. Russia has placed tens of billions of US Dollars there for money laundering. It has been more than two years since a single Russian “diplomat” has been deported and, in fact, the Embassy has grown to over 300 staffers on this tiny island state of only 1.2 million people. The Russian embassy in Nicosia has advanced communications antennae on its roof and opened a consulate on the northern end of the island. Moscow’s Ambassador, Mura Zyazikov, is a lieutenant general in the FSB with no diplomatic experience. The FSB, SVR (Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service), and GRU are actively using the island as a base of operations against NATO Member states, Israel, and other Western allies. Moscow backs pro-Russian political parties who in turn influence Cypriot decisions on education, language, and other issues. “Dmitry Khmelnitsky of the Dossier Center says that its findings should be of concern not only to Cyprus but to the West as a whole. Those who ignore what Moscow is doing because Cyprus does not follow the EU sanctions regime are missing something critical,” says Goble. “Cyprus does not seek to get rid of Russian agents and does not interfere with their work,” Khmelnitsky concludes, “despite the fact that what the Kremlin is doing is so clearly visible.” This has an impact not only on the small island but on the EU, NATO, and the West in general. Earlier this year the Moscow Times reported that when the FBI became more interested in Russian business and oligarchs in Cyprus, at least 10 of the major Russian businesses operating there left. Despite the government of Cyprus’ vow to implement plans for new sanctions against Russia, it continues to ignore Putin’s atrocities in Ukraine and to shield the wealth of the 50,000 wealthy Russian citizens and oligarchs residing there. Daria Novak served in the U.S. State Dept. Illustration: Pixabay