The announcement of the planned State Constitution amendment to allow the PRC president to serve more than two terms rattled people inside and outside China.
Between the lines: It was not a surprise but rather the extinguishing of the last shred of hope that Xi would adhere to some of the institutionalization and norms, however squishy some have been, developed since 1978.
Senior Chinese emissary Liu He's visit to D.C. to restart talks on the Comprehensive Economic Dialogue has not proven fruitful so far, my sources tell me.
What I am hearing: Thursday’s meetings with U.S. government officials were difficult and so far Liu has not gotten the U.S. to agree to restart the CED talks, something the Chinese are very eager to do.
The Assad regime continues to flout the UN Security Council’s resolution calling for a 30-day ceasefire in Syria. Meanwhile, a Russian plan for a humanitarian corridor into Eastern Ghouta has collapsed amid renewed fighting, a sign that Moscow is not yet serious about reigning in their client in Damascus.
Why it matters: The 400,000 civilians trapped in Eastern Ghouta and over a quarter million Syrians in other remote and besieged areas are in acute need of humanitarian assistance. That aid will remain out of reach.
At the end of a week that saw the major players in Brexit set out their positions for the process, British Prime Minister Theresa May outlined her economic vision for the U.K.'s departure from the European Union in a widely-anticipated speech Friday, telling the EU that "we have a shared interest in getting this right, so let’s get on with it."
What happened: May presented the softest version of a hard Brexit plan that removes the U.K. from the EU's single market and customs unions but still maintains important economic and regulatory links to the EU via a landmark trade deal — all in an attempt to assuage the dueling wings of her party's vision of Brexit.
Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikan appears to be leaning toward extraditing Russian hacker Yevgeniy Nikulin to the United States rather than Russia, after telling parliament he will base his decision on where the most severe crimes were committed and which side requested his extradition first. Both criteria point to the U.S.
Why it matters: Nikulin is the centre of a tug-of-war between the U.S. and Russia after he was picked up by the Czech authorities in Prague in October 2016 on an international arrest warrant tied to the hacking of social networks including LinkedIn, Dropbox and Formspring. However, the U.S. authorities believe he may also have information about Russian state-sponsored cyber activities — a view politicians and analysts say is supported by Russia’s desperate attempts to have him sent back home.
NATO hit back at Russian President Vladimir Putin's threat of targeting the alliance's member countries with new "invincible" nuclear weapons, calling Russia's aggression "unacceptable and counterproductive," per the AP.
NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu, pointing to Russia’s “aggressive actions” in Ukraine and military preparation around Europe, said on Friday, “NATO is pursuing a twin-track approach to Russia; strong deterrence and defense, combined with meaningful dialogue.”
Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe is expected to be criticized in a forthcoming report by the DOJ's inspector general for authorizing confidential disclosures to the media, per the NYT. The incident specifically focuses on a 2016 WSJ piece — for which McCabe allegedly allowed FBI officials to provide information — about internal tension at the FBI over the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails.
Why it matters: Though the incident had nothing to do with the Russia investigation, McCabe spent significant time working on that investigation as well. Any impropriety by McCabe in the Clinton investigation will provide fodder for President Trump and his Republican allies to further muddy the waters surrounding Russia — and DOJ's Mueller probe — by alleging "deep state" interference.
For centuries, the Himalayas served as a buffer between India and China, but now China's reach stretches into South Asian countries like Nepal that have historically been part of India's sphere of influence. Increasingly, those countries are playing host to a geopolitical competition between the world's fastest-growing powers.
The bottom line: India can't compete with the scale and speed of Chinese investment. And the new economic competition — which has emerged over the last two decades — is likely to force changes in how India deals with its neighbors and with economic powers like the United States.
Axios managing editor Kim Hart spoke with Microsoft president Brad Smith, who says 2017 was a "wake up call" and that the tech community will need to put more focus on working together to fight the security breaches.
