Welcome to today’s Morning Brief, where we’re looking at China’s response to U.S. accusations of spying, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s case for EU membership, and an Australian report on Chinese disinformation.
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Beijing Rejects Washington’s Balloon Claims
China’s government claims that the United States is engaging in “information warfare” against China by describing the Chinese balloon downed over the Atlantic Ocean as part of China’s surveillance program.
The Chinese foreign ministry has insisted that the balloon was a civilian airship that flew off course and that the United States, in shooting it down, had overreacted.
U.S. officials have dismissed China’s accusations and refuted Beijing’s claims that the balloon was flying for civilian purposes. “I can assure this was not for civilian purposes. We are 100 percent clear on that,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said.
The United States has said that China’s balloon-spying program is intended to target not only the United States, but 40 countries across various continents. U.S. officials are also reportedly exploring potential punitive actions against China, as well as “broader efforts” to address China’s surveillance activities.
U.S. authorities do not yet know what precisely the balloon was intended to do or where its parts were manufactured. They also said the Biden administration has declassified information gathered on the balloon to better inform the American public and the country’s allies.
What We’re Following Today
Zelensky pushes for quick EU membership. Speaking in Brussels, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made the case for talks on Ukraine joining the European Union to begin this year. Zelensky traveled first to London, then to Paris, and finally to Brussels, where he addressed the European Parliament and a summit of 27 EU leaders. Zelensky made the case that Ukraine was not just fighting for itself, but for all of Europe. He also said that Ukrainian soldiers would be bolstered by membership talks beginning this year, adding, “When I say this year, I mean this year. Two, zero, 23.”
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, however, has said “there is no rigid timeline” for Ukrainian accession to the European Union. Zelensky also asked Slovakia’s prime minister, Eduard Heger, for his country’s Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets, which were grounded last year. Heger told Zelensky, “we will work on this.”
Researchers say China linked to social media campaign. Researchers at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a defense think tank in Canberra, Australia, found that a network working within China has used social media to undermine confidence in Australia’s government and democracy, spreading disinformation and amplifying scandals. The network is believed to have 30 active accounts, all appearing to be women, posting in English and Mandarin.
To date, engagement with the accounts has been limited. The think tank, which gets over half its funding from Australia’s Department of Defense or other government agencies, previously attracted negative attention from China for its research on human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Keep an Eye On
Japan arrested alleged crime spree ringleaders. Japanese police arrested four people who allegedly oversaw scams and robberies while in overseas jails. The men recruited people to carry out robberies—targeting the elderly and cheating them out of billions of yen—while in jail in the Philippines. Two of the men were deported to Japan from the Philippines earlier this week; the other two were deported Wednesday.
The suspected ringleader goes by “Luffy,” an apparent anime reference (the popular anime One Piece has a character named Monkey D Luffy). Japanese authorities have been searching for the people behind this crime wave since the summer of 2021. The gang is thought to be connected to over 90 robberies in 14 prefectures. One this past January involved the murder of a 90-year-old woman.
Anger at Saudi effort to sponsor women’s World Cup. U.S. forward Alex Morgan bashed a potential sponsorship deal between FIFA and Saudi Arabia for this summer’s women’s World Cup. The women’s World Cup is going to be held in Australia and New Zealand. The soccer federations of both countries have protested the potential deal, both citing Saudi Arabia’s human rights record, and particularly the limited rights of women and the illegality of homsexuality.
Morgan, for her part, said, “I think it’s bizarre that Fifa has looked to have a ‘Visit Saudi’ sponsorship for the Women’s World Cup when I would not even be supported and accepted in that country, so I just don’t understand it … Pretty much everyone has spoken out against that because morally, it just doesn’t make sense.” U.S. Soccer also voiced its concern, saying, “While we cannot control how other organizations manage sponsorship selections for the tournaments we compete in, we can voice our concerns and will continue to support our players.”
Thursday’s Most Read
•Ukraine Braces for Grisly Russian Offensive in the East by Amy Mackinnon and Jack Detsch
•Starlink Cuts Off Ukrainian Drones by Jack Detsch and Robbie Gramer
•The Top Five Lessons From Year One of Ukraine’s War by Stephen M. Walt
Odds and Ends
The naked truth. A Spanish high court ruled in favor of a man who walked naked through the streets of Valencia and was fined. The court struck down the appeal against a lower court decision to annul the fine, but admitted there was a “legal vacuum” in Spanish law toward public nudity.
Indeed, public nudity has been legal in Spain since 1988, although some regions have laws regulating public nudism. Nevertheless, in this case, the court ruled that the man’s behavior did not bring about an “alteration of citizen security, tranquility or public order.” The man, 29-year-old Alejandro Colomar, had also tried to attend a court hearing naked.