Boris Johnson’s Final Offer?

Here is today’s Foreign Policy brief: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson offers the EU a final Brexit plan, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defies House Democrats, and more protests—and violence—in Hong Kong and Iraq.

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will present his final Brexit pitch to the European Union today as the U.K. Conservative party’s annual conference ends. There, he has maintained his hard line that Britain will leave the European Union by the Oct. 31 deadline—deal or no deal. Officials have described the proposal as a final offer to get the European Union to negotiate.

Critics of Johnson—both in the European Union and in Parliament—say that he doesn’t intend to offer a deal that Brussels will accept and that he is not particularly interested in solving the problem of the Irish border. On Tuesday, France’s foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said that a no-deal Brexit seemed to be the “most plausible” outcome.

The backstop. At the center of the offer is the issue of the Irish border. The current backstop agreement seeks to prevent a hard border. Draft proposals leaked on Monday suggested that Johnson’s version could involve customs checks five to 10 miles from the border and a special relationship with the European Union until 2025. That proposal has received only criticism from Brussels and Dublin, though Johnson has said the account is “not quite right.”

What’s next? A law passed by Parliament last month still requires Johnson to request a delay if he doesn’t reach a deal at the EU summit on Oct. 17. With a general election likely before the end of the year, Johnson wants to avoid a delay by any means necessary—including possibly defying the law—and will likely seek to deflect the blame, the New York Times reports.

Pompeo stonewalls U.S. House. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo clashed with the Democrats leading the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump on Tuesday, after Pompeo said that five State Department officials would not give depositions this week as scheduled. (At least one, former Ukraine envoy Kurt Volker, will still appear.) The leaders of the House Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight Committees have accused Pompeo of intimidating witnesses. And Pompeo has accused Democrats of bullying and improper treatment as the cascading inquiry appears likely to consume the State Department.

Meanwhile, Steve Linick, the inspector general of the State Department—who operates independently of Pompeo—has requested an urgent meeting with Congressional officials to discuss documents relating to Ukraine. The meeting is likely to take place at a secure location on Wednesday.

Is Justin Trudeau self-destructing? Ahead of Canada’s Oct. 21 elections, poll numbers released Tuesday show that the Liberal party’s support among young voters has tumbled after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent blackface scandal. The party remains tied with the opposition Conservatives. While the collapse of Trudeau’s popularity might surprise those abroad, most Canadians now see an increasing gap between the prime minister’s words and his deeds, Charlie Mitchell argues in FP. “Just as international adoration for Trudeau was reaching fever pitch, Canadians were beginning to lose faith,” he writes.

After shooting of teenager, Hong Kong braces for more protests. Secondary students in Hong Kong boycotted classes today in response to the shooting of an 18-year-old protester by the police on Tuesday—captured on video. It marked the first time a demonstrator had been shot with a live round. Hospital officials and a leaked scan suggest that the bullet barely missed the victim’s heart, but that he is likely to survive—and to face criminal charges. Police officials defended the officer’s actions as legitimate self-defense. There were calls for more protests after Tuesday’s violent unrest.

Iraqi police open fire on demonstrators. At least two demonstrators were killed and 200 wounded when security forces used tear gas and live fire to disperse protests in Baghdad and other cities on Tuesday. The nearly 3,000 protesters were demonstrating over corruption, poor public services, and unemployment in the country. The protest movement has simmered since similar—and more deadly—unrest in Iraq last year.

Singapore’s “fake news” law. Today a law to combat “fake news” will take effect in Singapore, requiring that online platforms—including social media—remove content that the government deems false. Under the law, individuals who spread such information could face 10 years in jail. Rights groups and opposition politicians have warned the law could harm free speech, particularly as the city-state gears up for national elections expected within months.

Tunisia’s jailed presidential candidate. A Tunisian court ruled on Tuesday that presidential candidate and media mogul Nabil Karoui—who faces a runoff in two weeks—should remain in prison facing three-year-old charges of tax evasion and money laundering that he denies. His detention raises questions about Tunisia’s democracy: This is only its second regular presidential election since the 2011 Arab Spring.

The U.S. answer to Huawei. There is growing consensus that China is leading the way when it comes to 5G technology, but the race is just beginning. A Pentagon task force is betting on a long-term strategy: incentivizing innovations in the private sector. The United States hopes this approach will give it an edge on other countries, Lara Seligman reports.

China’s national week. On Tuesday, China marked 70 years of communist rule with a massive military parade in Beijing and a speech by President Xi Jinping while Hong Kong exploded. But what will the country’s future hold? Foreign Policy explores this question and many others in this week’s coverage of China’s big anniversary.

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Alcohol consumption in Russia has decreased by 43 percent since 2003, according to a World Health Organization report released this week. The drop follows new restrictions on alcohol sales under President Vladimir Putin. Russia was once one of the heaviest-drinking countries in the world, the WHO reports.

The shipyard in Northern Ireland that built the Titanic has been saved from bankruptcy after it failed to secure a loan in August. A British energy company bought Harland and Wolff for $7.3 million, for its ship repair and renewable energy services. It has not built a ship since 2003.

As China celebrates 70 years of the People’s Republic this week, Krish Raghav in SupChina has put together a list of 70 songs—one for each year—that have defined China’s musical landscape. From Maoist odes to the Chinese frontier to Wuhan punk and Kenny G’s “Going Home,” these songs may not have been the most popular, but they captured moments in a rapidly changing Chinese society. Check out the Spotify playlist for easy listening. —Shannon Schweitzer

That’s it for today.

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