World Briefing: January 6, 2025

China appears to be taking a page out of Russia’s playbook with nationals from Ukraine and other former Soviet republics by signing growing numbers of visiting Taiwanese people up for local resident or even identity cards, the Financial Times reported. The drive to incorporate them into its society is setting off alarm bells in Taipei. Taiwan government officials said that Beijing had become “focused” on getting visiting Taiwanese to apply for Chinese resident cards, bank accounts and local mobile phone numbers — known as the “three documents” — with many then being given the local identity cards which are reserved for citizens. “We are concerned that when more and more Taiwanese have Chinese citizenship, it will compromise our jurisdiction,” said a senior China policy official in Taipei. “If a Taiwanese with a Chinese ID was involved in an incident here, China could say they need to take care of the issue because the person is their citizen and intervene in our domestic affairs.” The push is seen as particularly concerning as China is steadily expanding a multi-faceted pressure campaign against Taiwan. Beijing claims the island as part of its territory and threatens to take it by force if Taipei resists unification indefinitely. Similar tactics of giving local status to citizens from neighbouring countries has long been part of Russia’s playbook. Moscow issued passports to eastern Ukrainians who moved to Russia after it helped to orchestrate conflict in the region in 2014. Russia also gave citizenship to residents of two breakaway regions of Georgia and then cited the need to protect them as a pretext for a brief 2008 war. Taiwanese officials said China’s push to give more Taiwanese local papers had not reached that level yet, but it posed a risk of the same nature. - FT

More than 60 million Americans across more than 30 states are in the grips of a huge winter storm that could bring the heaviest snowfall and coldest temperatures in over a decade. A polar vortex has brought frigid weather down from the Arctic to the central US, with extreme weather conditions accompanying it. Thousands of flights are delayed or cancelled, many roads cut and schools shut as a result of the storm. Blizzards are expected to bring whiteout conditions to Kansas and Missouri, where a state of emergency has been declared. A state of emergency has also been declared in the states of Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Arkansas and parts of New Jersey. Washington DC is set to host the certification of the presidential election results tomorrow. Officials have sworn it will go ahead regardless of the anticipated inclement weather. - BBC

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to announce as early as Monday that he will resign as Liberal Party Leader, The Globe and Mail reported on Sunday, citing three sources. The sources told the Globe and Mail that they don’t know definitely when Trudeau will announce his plans to leave but said they expect it will happen before a key national caucus meeting on Wednesday. It remains unclear whether Trudeau will leave immediately or stay on as prime minister until a new leader is selected, the report added. Trudeau took over as Liberal leader in 2013 when the party was in deep trouble and had been reduced to third place in the House of Commons for the first time. Trudeau’s departure would leave the party without a permanent head at a time when polls show the Liberals will badly lose to the Conservatives in an election that must be held by late October - Reuters

There are growing signs of a boycott against products manufactured by Aekyung Group, the parent company of Jeju Air, following the crash of one of its aircraft at Muan International Airport on Sunday, which claimed the lives of 179 people on board. The boycott, fuelled by public outrage over the incident and lingering cynicism surrounding an ongoing legal battle involving the group’s humidifier disinfectant products – linked to a series of injuries and fatalities – poses a significant threat to the group’s public image and future business prospects. People have begun sharing information online about retail products manufactured by Aekyung’s subsidiaries, urging others to boycott them. The products include cosmetics, haircare, dental care, hygiene and home care items. Most of these products are made by Aekyung Industrial, which manufactures everyday household goods. The movement is spreading fast across social networking platforms, including X - SCMP

Ukraine has launched a fresh offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, the Russian defence ministry says. In a statement, the ministry said efforts to destroy the Ukrainian attack groups were ongoing. Officials in Ukraine have also suggested an operation is under way. Ukraine first launched its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing a chunk of territory. In recent months, Russian forces have made big gains in the area, pushing the Ukrainians back, but failing to eject them entirely. In a statement posted on Telegram on Sunday, Russia’s defence ministry said: “At around 9am Moscow time, in order to stop the offensive by the Russian troops in the Kursk direction, the enemy launched a counter-attack by an assault detachment consisting of two tanks, one counter-obstacle vehicle, and 12 armoured fighting vehicles.” Several Russian military bloggers gave more details about the attack, saying it was launched from the Ukrainians’ base at Sudzha towards the villages of Berdin and Bolshoye Soldatskoye, a district centre on the way to Kursk city - BBC

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a three-hour interview to American podcaster Lex Friedman. It has already logged almost one million views on YouTube. Zelensky said that in the first days of the full-scale war, he spoke with Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who apologized for Belarus’ complicity in the war: “He said it wasn’t me. He said missiles were being launched from my territory, and Putin was launching them. These are his words,” Zelensky said according to Suspilne. The Ukrainian leader said he probably wouldn’t attend the inauguration of Donald Trump as no invitation has been received. Zelensky said North Korea may have sent another 30-40,000 soldiers to the war against Ukraine, and even 500,000. According to him, 3,800 DPRK soldiers have already been killed or wounded in the war.

The Duchess of Sussex will star in a new Netflix series, but so far, With Love, Meghan, isn’t getting much love. Meghan revealed the trailer for her new Netflix series on Instagram on Thursday after ending a five-year social media absence. The eight-episode series, filmed in Montecito, Calif., will drop on Jan. 15, according to Netflix. With Love, Meghan, “reimagines the genre of lifestyle programming,” the company says, as Meghan, 43, shares her personal tips and tricks for cooking, gardening, crafting and more. Online, the reaction was quick and scathing, with many critics calling out the show as “entitled,” “tone deaf” and “tasteless” for promoting an upscale lifestyle most people can’t afford. The online reaction isn’t surprising given the growing sense of class struggle and resentment emerging in the U.S. right now, said Shana MacDonald, the O’Donovan chair in communication at the University of Waterloo, who researches feminist, queer and anti-racist social and digital media. “It’s a kind of wrong time, wrong place moment because there is such a large conversation around class and income disparity emerging online right now,” MacDonald said. - CBC News

With a 2-3 victory (5-3 on aggregate), Vietnam beat Thailand in the ASEAN Championships football match to win the title for the third time in its history. A hard-fought duel, with changes in the scoreboard and a red card for Thailand tipped the balance in favor of the Vietnamese. The streets of Hanoi erupted in jubilation as it became clear Vietnam trounced its arch rival, Thailand. People were glued to their screen throughout the match - even motorcyclists kept an eye on their mobile screens while navigating the capital’s congested streets.

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