Beyond Afghanistan: foreign affairs stories you might have missed

As we were watching the drama in the Hindu Kush, the world kept turning, the moon waxed and waned, and it was business as usual in foreign affairs. Here are some things that may have been lost in the mire…

Algeria broke diplomatic ties with Morocco for what it called Rabat’s “hostile actions”.  The two “brotherly” countries have always had an uneasy relationship and fought the “Sand War” in 1963 over a territorial dispute. This new dip in relations is also about territory – this time the Western Sahara, where Algeria backs the Polisario Front in its armed bid for autonomy from Morocco. The Algeria-Morocco border has been closed for 25 years over the issue.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said that the Chinese military is now capable of paralysing its defences and monitoring any movement of its forces. A leaked copy of its annual review suggested China’s electronic warfare and precision strike weapons could “initially” overwhelm the Taiwanese forces with “soft and hard electronic attacks… which would initially paralyse our air defences, command of the sea and counter-attack system abilities, presenting a huge threat to us”. However, the report also notes that China still lacks transport abilities and logistical support for a large-scale invasion.

The above is why Japanese foreign ministry and defence officials met last week with their Taiwanese counterparts to discuss ways to counter what both see as Chinese aggression. Japan does not have formal state-to-state relations with Taiwan so as not to anger China, but over the past few years it has been moving towards a defence strategy which includes the defence of Taiwan and the surrounding seas. Beijing responded to the meeting by saying that Japan should stay out of China’s internal affairs.  

The UK has moved a step closer towards becoming a Pacific nation… The Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission announced it will meet this month to consider UK membership in the trade agreement. The UK applied to join in February at the end of the Brexit transition period, the application was accepted in June, and the September meeting should be another step towards approval. CPTPP nations include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Members agree to remove 95 per cent of tariffs on goods traded between them.

The German election campaign has been quietly ambling along for weeks. Modern German politicking is not known for its energy levels or excitement and that remains true even in an election which essentially is about who will replace Chancellor Angela Merkel after her 16 years in power. No party is polling above 25 per cent.  Merkel’s CDU party has slipped below the more liberal SDP, whose candidate for Chancellor, Olaf Sholz, is on a good run and has the best campaign slogan – “Er kann Kanzlerin”. The meaning is that Scholz can be Chancellor, but it uses the female form of the word – normally used for Merkel. Given that she remains the country’s most popular politician it makes sense to associate yourself with her and suggest you are the “steady as she goes” candidate. Scholz currently serves as finance minister and Vice-Chancellor in the coalition government. Some CDU stalwarts are enraged, accusing Sholz of “inheritance fraud”. In a “dull vs duller” contest his chief rival is the CDU’s Armin Lashet. He’s not known for his humour but did himself no favours when, inexplicably, he had a laughing fit during a visit to Germany’s flood hit zone.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Washington D.C. this week to meet his opposite number. President Biden made all the right noises to please Kiev, condemned “Russian aggression” and came up with another $60 million in military aid. What he didn’t do, though, was anything to prevent the completion of the Moscow-backed Nord Stream 2 pipeline which Zelensky, and most Eastern European leaders, say is a threat to their security. The project is almost finished.

There was no getting away from Afghanistan… and not just for the unfortunate Afghans trying to flee the country. Poland’s President Andrej Duda signed a declaration this week calling for a 30-day state of emergency in nearly 200 towns and villages close to the Belarusian border, where Afghan refugees are waiting to cross into Poland. Parliament is expected to formally approve the move on Monday when Poland will become the third EU country to impose such measures along with Lithuania and Latvia.

And finally… Turkey’s President Erdogan announced plans to add another 64 kilometres to the existing border wall it has built along the frontier with Iran. The move is to prepare for a possible influx of Afghan refugees. To date, there is no significant increase in those trying to cross, but the distances refugees must travel mean it may still happen. Anyone making it to the border faces a three-metre-high wall in stretches, and ditches, barbed wire and watch towers along the rest of the 560 km line. Turkey already hosts 182,000 registered Afghan migrants and estimates there are another 120,000 unregistered in the country. This is in addition to almost four million Syrian refugees, many of whom try to move on to Europe. The wall extension is more evidence of a hardening of hearts in the Turkish government after a decade of taking in unprecedented numbers of people. The governor of the eastern border province of Van, Mehmet Emin Bilmez, told Reuters: “We want to show the whole world that our borders are unpassable.”