Foreign Digest: China, Russia, Iran and Afghanistan

China (Hong Kong)

            There were more protests in Hong Kong last week for the first time since the pandemic restrictions were imposed.  Communist China had promised the territory it would respect is autonomy and freedom when the city-state reverted from British rule in 1997, but has increasingly encroached on both.  A proposed extradition law that would have been used as a possible tool against dissidents by allowing their extradition to mainland China was shelved after mass protests.  Hong Kong residents continue to protest for self-rule and liberty.

China, Russia and Iran 

            Communist China, the Russian Federation (led by a tyrannical ex-Soviet intelligence officer Vladimir Putin) and Iran (the Islamist State that is the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism), are all using disinformation about the novel coronavirus pandemic to deceive about how bad the outbreak is in their countries or to undermine confidence in the truth, both domestically and abroad, or to blame the United States for the pandemic with phony conspiracy theories about the origin of the contagion and to divide Europeans from each other and the U.S.  Just as facet of Russian disinformation targeted abroad to interfere in European and American politics was against vaccination, these efforts, in which the three rogue regimes amplify each other, include promotion of fake cures and undermine confidence in public health officials.  Anti-vaccination beliefs from the far left to the far right in America have led to outbreaks of measles, mumps and even pertussis, as I have posted about, and would decrease the vaccination rate if a vaccine were developed for the novel coronavirus.  Propaganda and disinformation that undermines public health is a form of biological warfare.

Afghanistan

           A power-sharing agreement has been reached between the incumbent President and the former Foreign Minister and leader of the Northern Alliance after a second consecutive disputed presidential election in September.  The incumbent will remain president while his rival will lead the Reconciliation Council which will appoint half the cabinet and oversee the peace negotiations with the Taliban.  The Islamist Taliban guerillas were overthrown by the United States and its allies after the September 11, 2001 Attacks for hosting al-Qaeda, the Islamist terrorists responsible for the deadliest act of terrorism in history.  The Trump Administration is pulling out of Afghanistan, but its plans to defer to Afghans on the peace talks were jeopardized by the political stalemate.  The Northern Alliance, which was recognized by the U.S., had control of northeastern Afghanistan.  In addition to the war, Afghanistan faces poverty, corruption and a growing outbreak of the novel coronavirus.  The power-sharing agreement gives the country a chance for a better future without allowing the Taliban to return to power and again turn Afghanistan into a safe haven for Islamist terrorists.