A strange quirk of Taiwan sovereignty
Plus, Germany frets over Russia leak and a cholera outbreak in Africa
A6 has a handful of new subscribers from the past week, and I want to wish you all a warm welcome.
I hope that every issue reveals at least one insight that is new or interesting.
My goal is that, by reading A6 consistently, we will all have a deeper perspective on the world. I always include myself in this sentiment because my core motivation for the newsletter is self-education.
I would like to point readers to a speech from Oleg Orlov, who was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail in Russia for opposing the Ukraine War. Not only is Orlov an immensely brave person, but the speech is beautiful, poignant, and sharp.
Honestly, if you have limited time, I would suggest skipping A6 and reading Orlov’s words. They are that special.
Enjoy!
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Followups on A6 topics
US serviceman dies after self-immolation protest against Israel
Israeli 'massacre' kills over 100 Palestinians seeking food in Gaza City
OPEC+ members extend production cuts in bid to boost oil price
A6 - Where the World Happens
China increases patrols near Taiwan’s Kinmen islands
An accident near a strange quirk of Taiwanese territory has ratcheted up tensions between Taipei and Beijing over the past two weeks.
Two Chinese fishermen died near the Kinmen islands after they strayed within one nautical mile of Taiwan’s territory and fled the Taiwan Coast Guard after it requested their inspection.
Taiwan manages the Kinmen Islands, but they are only 3 km (1.86 miles) away from mainland China. The islands are right in the middle of Weitou Bay, mainland territory directly off the coast of Xiamen, an important port city of 4.5 million people.
In other words, it is a strange outpost of Taiwanese sovereignty.
But, it is undisputedly Taiwanese, and it is home to an important military garrison that was used during the Cold War.
Beijing has used the deaths of the two fishermen as an excuse to launch a harassment campaign in the area. The tensions reached a fever pitch when a Chinese Coast Guard boat intercepted a Taiwanese sightseeing tour, and officers boarded the vessel to check its papers, freaking out the passengers.
China has also sent Coast Guard ships into restricted waters, although they left after being warned. The China Taiwan Affairs Office, which manages Beijing’s relationship with Taiwan, said it did not recognize the restricted waters around the Kinmen Islands.
Russia publishes audio of German military planning
German government officials are freaking out after Russian state media published a 38-minute audio recording that appeared to feature German military personnel discussing possible missile strikes in Crimea.
The recordings feature German officers talking about sending missiles to Ukraine as well as scouting potential locations for Ukrainian strikes.
It was posted on Telegram by Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Russia Today, which alarmed German officials who vowed to investigate how she got her hands on the recording.
“What is being reported is a very serious matter and that is why it is now being investigated very carefully, very intensively and very quickly,” said Olaf Scholz, the chancellor of Germany.
The German government plans to investigate how the recording was leaked and whether it constitutes a one-off event or a systematic weakness. There is concern in Germany that Russia intercepted the recording, which would indicate a hack rather than an internal leak.
Russian politicians also took advantage of the moment, claiming that the recordings were proof that Germany and Ukraine “want to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield.”
The incident comes as Ukraine is pushing Germany to provide it with a Taurus long-range missile, but Berlin has balked at the idea, claiming it would represent direct involvement in the Ukraine War.
China sets up barrier at mouth of Scarborough Shoal
Satellite images appear to show that China put up a temporary floating barrier at the entrance of the Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.
The Philippines and China have had frequent run-ins at the shoal, and the barrier was built a week after the Chinese Coast Guard drove off a Philippines ship “illegally intruding in the area.”
But the main problem is that the ship was probably not doing anything illegal, as the shoal falls within the Philippine's 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
Beijing says that most of the South China Sea falls within its 9-dash-line territory claim, which was deemed illegal by an international arbitration tribunal in the Hague in 2016. Beijing has famously ignored that ruling.
China said that the barriers were “necessary” to protect its “indisputable sovereignty” over the Scarborough Shoal.
The Philippines said it assumes the barriers are meant for government vessels because they are built when China monitors the region. China removed the barrier after their boats left.
Manila has been more assertive in trying to claw back its perceived territorial rights in the South China Sea, which has resulted in more direct confrontations between Chinese and Philippines ships.
A cholera outbreak has killed at least 700 people in Zambia
A cholera outbreak in Zambia that started in October 2023 has killed 700 people and infected 20,000 others, according to Doctors Without Borders.
Zambia, in south-central Africa, is struggling to navigate a prolonged drought, making access to clean water difficult and exacerbating the cholera problem.
The disease also appears to have crossed borders, with doctors recording cases in Zimbabwe, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Malawi.
Authorities converted a large soccer stadium in the capital city, Lusaka, into a treatment center, but the general public is frustrated by what they said was a laissez-faire approach to the emergency.
Cholera is transmitted through contaminated water and food, and there are two vaccines on the market to fight the illness. Zambia has vaccinated 1.5 million people since the start of the outbreak, but the most effective tool to fight the disease is simply rehydration therapy.
Because the country is at peace, the government directed its military personnel to focus on food production to improve the cholera situation and fight back against the drought.
Climate Change: Two French companies leveraged American tax credits to upgrade clean energy
Two companies from France may have discovered a benevolent loophole in the Biden administration’s climate policies by leveraging tax breaks to ramp up their clean energy facilities.
Schneider Electric SE will be paying US$80 million to Engie North America to acquire its tax credits, which will help Engie finance four projects set to come online in Texas this year.
Schneider Electric SE then plans to use the money it saves on taxes to buy 110,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy credits from Engie over the next decade.
While this is essentially an accounting trick to take money out of the right pocket to put in the left, the net result is the financial viability of four renewable projects in the U.S. and a large company (Schneider) decreasing its global emissions.
Kevin’s article: Newly discovered gaps in Great Wall of China create more mysteries about why it was built
From the first three paragraphs:
Archaeologists investigating the Great Wall of China’s “Mongolian Arc” have discovered large gaps in the wall were not the result of destruction, degradation or erosion, but were never built in the first place.
One explanation scientists have come up with for the missing sections is that the Chinese builders were working in haste, amid concerns about the threat posed by the rise to power of Ghengis Khan, according to a study published in the Journal of Field Archaeology in late December.
The Mongolian Arc – which stretches from northern China into Mongolia –was built sometime between the 11th and 13th centuries, far earlier than the most famous segments constructed during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), and is believed to have been used by the Jin dynasty (1115–1234), but that has not been proven conclusively.
What I am reading
Closing Statement by Oleg Orlov, sentenced to prison in Russia
El Niño shows us the true face of climate change
If Everyone Is Hot, Is No One Hot?