Global Courant
A preview of the NATO summit
Leaders of NATO countries are preparing for two days of meetings starting tomorrow in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius.
Ukraine will be a big problem. The war has been raging there for more than 500 days and the counter-offensive is progressing slowly. Ukraine wants to join NATO, but President Biden said yesterday it was “premature” to begin the process of admitting the country into the middle of a war.
I spoke to Steven Erlanger, our main diplomatic correspondent in Europe, about what to expect from the meeting.
Amelia: What do NATO allies hope to achieve with this summit?
Steven: The main task of this NATO summit is to demonstrate the unity and solidarity of the alliance in support of Ukraine.
It will be full of the most gassy rhetoric imaginable. But it is also important because Russia believes, we think, that it can wait longer than Western aid to Ukraine. And really the most important job of this summit is to say to President Vladimir Putin, “That’s not going to happen.”
What are you going to watch at the top?
For me, the most important thing that will happen is the political signing of new NATO military plans to deter Russia and defend NATO territory.
After Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, NATO deployed these four enhanced forward battalions in Poland and the three Baltic countries with some 1,200 multinational troops in each country, as a stumbling block. After February 2022, when the war started, NATO deployed more along the rest of the eastern flank. In total, only about 10,300 troops are involved.
So part of the plan is to quickly send 4,000 to 5,000 troops to these countries, in case of an emergency.
It is an open question whether NATO will extend membership to Ukraine. Do you expect movement in that?
NATO will not offer Ukraine membership in Vilnius. That will not happen.
One possible compromise, which is clearly not enough for the Ukrainians, is that Ukraine would be promised that, like Sweden and Finland, it could join NATO without going through a membership action plan. But that gives Ukraine no timetable for when it would join.
We expect Ukraine to get an upgrade in its relationship with NATO in the form of a council. A council would give Ukrainians the chance to participate in any NATO meeting that matters. That’s really important. Ukraine will be able to participate in almost all NATO meetings and will have the same status in the Council as other members.
How do you think NATO will appeal to China?
I don’t think the communiqué will differ much from the Madrid statement last year, when NATO first labeled China as a ‘challenge’.
In NATO terms, it is really about making the alliance aware of the threats to transatlantic relations. That includes Arctic routes, Chinese industrial espionage, and not being too dependent on China for key materials.
But NATO has no intention of establishing itself in Asia. The French have again stated quite strongly that NATO is a transatlantic organization and that it shouldn’t mess around too much in Asia – and that Europe’s interests in Asia are not exactly the same as America’s.
Yellen concludes visit to China
After 10 hours of meetings over two days in Beijing, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the US and China would communicate more often at the highest level. At a press conference yesterday, she said she believed the countries were on a firmer footing despite “significant differences”.
The desire for more dialogue was seen as an important development by some analysts, but many experts in both China and the US warned against expecting much to change. Notably, Yellen left Beijing yesterday with no announcements of breakthroughs or agreements to mend the lingering rifts between the two nations.
Details: Yellen was warmly greeted in Beijing. She had lunch with a group of Chinese women who are economists and entrepreneurs. Yellen also met with Chinese climate finance experts. Chinese state media wrote about her impressive use of chopsticks.
North Korean defectors struggle to flee China
Most North Korean defectors try to reach South Korea via China. But Beijing’s ever-expanding surveillance state has made it harder to evade authorities.
China uses its powerful surveillance technology to catch people on the run or find unauthorized foreigners. When China detains fleeing North Koreans, it often treats them as illegal migrants, not refugees, and deports them back to the North to face punishment.
Vivek Ramaswamy is a Republican presidential candidate in the US – and a practicing Hindu. He is trying to win over conservative Christian voters, who make up a significant portion of the party’s primary electorate, by demonstrating that the faiths have much in common. But for many religious conservatives, the difference is a hurdle.
Lives lived: Yan Mingfu, who was Mao’s interpreter, tried to find a peaceful way out of the 1989 standoff between the Chinese Communist Party and student protesters in Tiananmen Square. He died at the age of 91.
ART AND IDEAS
A doomed love affair for a video game
Seema Ghulam Haider, a married Pakistani woman, fell in love with Sachin Meena, an Indian man, in 2019 while they were playing the popular online game PUBG. She is Muslim; he is hindu. A few years later, she sneaked into India with her four children to be with him.
But their time together was short. Last week, Haider and her children were arrested for illegally entering the country. Meena and his father were also arrested, on charges amounting to conspiracy to protect an enemy. The men could face years in prison.
The couple’s romance has sparked nationalist intrigue in both India and Pakistan. It also touches on a religious debate: interfaith relations, especially between Hindus and Muslims, are a minefield in both countries. Tensions are so high that even suspected pigeons crossing the border have ended up in detention on charges of espionage.
PLAY, WATCH, EAT
What to cook
That’s it for today’s briefing. Until next time. — Amelia
PS How closely did you follow the news last week? Take our quiz.
“The Daily” is about student loans in the US
Suggestions are welcome. Write to us: [email protected].
