RED EYE ON THE NEWS . . . August 24, 2022

Jim Crow Biden wants border wall
   NBC News, 7/28–The Biden administration on Thursday authorized completion of the Trump-funded U.S.-Mexico border wall in an open area of southern Arizona near Yuma, where four wide gaps make it among the busiest corridors for illegal crossings…Completion of the wall was at the top of former President Donald Trump’s agenda, and border security remains a potent issue for candidates of both parties going into this year’s primary elections. President Joe Biden halted new wall construction after he took office, but he has since made closing the gaps just south of Yuma a priority. It was unclear when construction would begin. The statement said officials will move “as expeditiously as possible, while still maintaining environmental stewardship” by consulting affected parties.

War and drought threaten to kill many workers in Somalia
    The Economist, 7/28–Somalia faces a famine. The worst drought in 40 years is killing livestock and causing crops to shrivel.Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated the crisis by raising grain prices, meaning that farmers and herders cannot afford to supplement their diets. Roughly 7 million people, or 40% of Somalia’s population, are struggling to find enough food to eat. Around 1.4 million children are severely malnourished. Experts say that, unless urgent action is taken, this famine may be even deadlier than the one that claimed more than 250,000 Somalis in 2011.

Haiti: assassinations & gangs  point to U.S.-China rivalry
     Nikkei Asia, 8/7/2021–The assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise … has potential repercussions as far away as China, which has played a diplomatic chess game with the U.S. over the impoverished Caribbean nation. Beijing has dangled coronavirus vaccines and other aid as it seeks to persuade Haiti, one of the 15 countries that maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, to cut those ties, critics say…Republican lawmakers Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry of the U.S. House Taiwan Caucus recently sent Secretary of State Antony Blinken a letter warning of the "potential ripple effects this assassination may have on stability, both within Haiti and across the wider region -- as well as the doors it may open to political interference by the People's Republic of China."The Chinese Communist Party "will most certainly seek to take advantage of the political turmoil in Haiti to further marginalize U.S. and Taiwanese interests," the lawmakers wrote. Haiti is not the only focus in the region of Beijing's attempts to isolate Taipei. Panama, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic all severed ties with Taiwan in favor of China between 2017 and 2018. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has taken pains to try holding on to Taipei's remaining partners. She visited Haiti in 2019 to shore up their relationship, and Taiwan donated masks there last year to help with the country's coronavirus response.

Pelosi visit to Taiwan threatens military escalation by China
     Foreign Affairs, 7/29–“The military thinks it’s not a good idea right now.” That was U.S. President Joe Biden’s observation in late July about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s planned trip to Taiwan, which is reportedly scheduled for next month [August]. It would be wrong to think…that Pelosi’s travel plans will determine whether a showdown materializes in the Taiwan Strait. In reality, the United States and China are barreling toward such a crisis—and it will be far riskier than previous standoffs. China, possessing significant military capabilities and less concerned about preserving its relations with the United States, is now far more willing to respond to a perceived provocation with escalation than it was during previous crises….To send a message, China will now have to do something that rises significantly above that kind of baiting, which means its options are increasingly escalatory…As CIA Director William J. Burns recently said, “I wouldn’t underestimate President Xi’s determination to assert China’s control—the People’s Republic of China’s control—over Taiwan. I think the risks of that become higher, it seems to us, the further into this decade that you get.”