Raimondo Pushes De-Risking in Talks With Beijing

Welcome back to World Brief. Thanks to FP’s Robbie Gramer for coming in with an assist on U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo’s trip to China. Also on today’s agenda, we’re looking at a strategic territorial win for Ukraine and a #MeToo controversy in Spanish soccer.

Engagement is the word of the day for U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who kicked off a three-day summit in China on Monday. She is the latest in a string of top Biden administration officials who have traveled to Beijing in recent months to try to reduce tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Raimondo and Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao spent more than four hours discussing tangible solutions to boost commercial communication and collaboration in what Raimondo called “one of the most significant” economic partnerships in the world.

“Both of our countries, in fact the entire world, need us to manage that relationship responsibly,” Raimondo told a small group of reporters, including Foreign Policy, ahead of her visit. “There’s a benefit to communicating to reduce tensions. That does not mean compromise; that means communicate.”

Raimondo’s visit marks the first time a U.S. commerce secretary has traveled to China in seven years. Her message presents a stark shift from other political leaders in the United States, including some U.S. lawmakers and 2024 Republican presidential hopefuls, who have urged a more hawkish and confrontational approach to China. U.S. conservatives have criticized the commerce chief specifically for discussing export controls on Chinese advanced semiconductor manufacturing, warning that Beijing should not be allowed to weigh in on U.S. export policy. Raimondo has countered that under no circumstances will discussions this week center on export controls intended to slow Chinese military advancement that could threaten U.S. national security.

Among Raimondo’s top priorities was to convince a skeptical Chinese government that the United States is focused on “de-risking” the two economies but not fully “decoupling” them after Washington imposed new economic and export control measures on China aimed at protecting industries and supply chains it deems critical to its national security. “Just because we’re investing in America does not mean at all that we want to decouple from China’s economy,” Raimondo said.

The United States and China share more than $700 billion in annual trade; however, escalating tensions in recent years have made it increasingly difficult for U.S. companies to operate in China. The latest threat to good-faith collaboration occurred in May, when Beijing’s Cyberspace Administration banned corporations from buying advanced semiconductor chips from U.S.-based Micron Technology, a major semiconductor manufacturer.

To improve ties, Raimondo and Wang announced the establishment of two working groups on Monday to enhance bilateral information exchanges. One of the working groups will focus solely on commercial issues. It will meet twice a year starting in 2024 and consist of business representatives alongside government officials. The other bloc will discuss export controls. Raimondo and Wang also agreed to meet annually going forward.

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Tuesday, Aug. 29: U.S. President Joe Biden hosts Costa Rican President Rodrigo Chaves Robles in Washington.

Thursday, Aug. 31: The three-day Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China summit begins in the Czech Republic.

Pope Francis begins a four-day visit to Mongolia.

Friday, Sept. 1: Singapore holds presidential elections.

African health ministers conclude a five-day World Health Organization summit in Botswana.

Sunday, Sept. 3: Mexico’s Morena party concludes a weeklong selection process to determine who will represent the party during next year’s presidential election.

Monday, Sept. 4: The three-day Africa Climate Summit begins in Kenya.

The four-day Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit begins in Indonesia.

Kyiv’s territorial gains. Ukrainian troops liberated the southeastern village of Robotyne on Monday as part of Kyiv’s larger counteroffensive push against Russian forces. The settlement is six miles south of the front-line town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region, and it contains a strategic road and railway hub, both of which had previously been under Russian control. Fighting in the area has stretched for weeks as dense minefields hindered Ukrainian gains.

By capturing Robotyne, Ukraine said it had broken through Moscow’s most difficult line of defense in the south and can now begin its advance into Russian-occupied Ukraine more quickly. One of the counteroffensive’s primary goals is to reach the Sea of Azov and thereby drive a wedge into the Kremlin’s control of southern Ukraine. Seizing Robotyne will push Ukrainian troops closer to the city of Melitopol in a major gain toward achieving that priority.

Spanish soccer’s #MeToo moment. A #MeToo wave has spread across Spain over Luis Rubiales, president of the Spanish Football Federation, kissing forward Jenni Hermoso on the lips following Spain’s victory over England at the Women’s World Cup last week. Hermoso has said the kiss was nonconsensual, and her teammates said they would not compete while Rubiales remains in charge.

On Saturday, FIFA suspended the soccer chief while a disciplinary committee investigates his conduct. Several official complaints have been filed against Rubiales since. But Rubiales has refused to step down despite nationwide protests calling for his resignation. His dismissive response—he described the kiss as a “peck between two friends celebrating something” and labeled his critics “losers,” “idiots,” and “stupid people”—as well as comments made by some Spanish sports journalists and media outlets have reignited an ongoing national debate about sexism and the treatment of women in Spanish society.

Late Monday evening local time, Spain’s soccer federation called for Rubiales’s resignation. As of publication time, he had not yet responded publicly to their statement.

“Gigantic fraud.” Incumbent Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa secured a second term on Sunday in an election that analysts warned was skewed in his ruling Zanu-PF party’s favor. Mnangagwa won 52.6 percent of the vote versus opposition leader Nelson Chamisa’s 44 percent. The election was marred by allegations of voter harassment, polling station delays, and bans on opposition rallies. Chamisa has since called the election a “gigantic fraud” and urged the international community to assist him in his fight to contest the results.

When you think of snorkeling, you likely picture swimming in crystal blue waters among brightly colored tropical fish. But for participants at this year’s World Bog Snorkeling Championships in Wales on Sunday, the environment was decidedly muddier. And slimier. Competitors raced to complete two 60-yard lengths in a water-filled trench cut through a peat bog without using conventional swimming strokes. Yet despite athletes’ best efforts, the world record remained at 1 minute, 18 seconds, set in 2018 by Neil Rutter.