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Protestors in Hong Kong are sticking by their demands which include a formal withdrawal of an extradition bill that launched protestors onto the streets earlier this summer; the release of protestors arrested by police and some reassurance of a move toward a more democratic society.
The Hong Kong index has fallen more than 2,000 points since early June, and now some economists are predicting a recession later this year.
The political question remains whether or not China will step in to bring protests to an end and what threshold would have to be crossed in order for that to happen.
The Cipher Brief spoke with expert and former senior CIA analyst, Rodney Faraon, who served in East Asia and is a partner with the business strategy firm Crumpton Group.
Read What Could Prompt Chinese Intervention in Hong Kong, only in The Cipher Brief
It's Friday, which means its time to collect your weekly Dead Drop from The Cipher Brief.
This week, the country has a new Acting Director of National Intelligence and DD has the latest speculation over who might be in the running for the permanent gig.
Also, what's the latest on project Treadstone? We can tell you, but we have ways of making you forget...
Pick up your member-exclusive Dead Drop here
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Because it seems harder than ever today to find relevant headlines on what's happening outside of Washington D.C., The Cipher Brief is pleased to share our latest open source information on the stories that help you understand what's coming.
The Lead
Israel Blocks Visit by U.S. Congresswomen. Israel on Thursday barred U.S. congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from entering the country. Tlaib and Omar had planned to visit several cities in Israel beginning this weekend. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to deny entry to them due to their “boycott activities against Israel” and in accordance with the country’s anti-boycott law. Tlaib and Omar have said they support the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions movement, which advocates for countries, businesses, and consumers to boycott Israel with a goal of changing its policies toward the Palestinians. The New York Times The Wall Street Journal NBC News
Asia
China: Trump Urges Xi to Meet With Hong Kong Protesters. President Trump urged President Xi Jinping on Thursday to meet with Hong Kong protesters. Trump tweeted, “If President Xi would meet directly and personally with the protesters, there would be a happy and enlightened ending to the Hong Kong problem. I have no doubt!” The comments marked Trump’s most direct intervention in the conflict after weeks of reluctance by the White House. Trump also warned China that it must respond “humanely” if it wants to strike a trade deal with the United States. BBC The Wall Street Journal
China: Officials Check Phones At Hong Kong Border. Chinese border officials have begun searching phones of people who enter mainland China from Hong Kong, raising concerns that Beijing is trying to identify travelers sympathetic to the territory’s protest movement and further control what its people see about the unrest. Officials look through photos, messages, and other apps. The New York Times
India: Modi Vows to Restore Kashmir to Past Glory. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that his decision to strip Indian-administered Kashmir of its special status will restore the region to its "past glory.” Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan earlier criticized India's move, warning "the world's eye is on Kashmir.” The disputed territory has been the site of decades of sporadic conflict and has been in lockdown by India for more than a week with mobile, landline, and internet networks cut off and restrictions that ban people from assembling in crowds. India revoked Article 370 of its constitution on August 5, a provision granting Kashmir and Jammu a special status to make its own laws. BBC
Myanmar: Rebels Attack Military Academy. Ethnic armed rebels in Myanmar on Thursday killed 15 people, most of them members of the security forces, in attacks on an elite military college and other government targets in the country's north. The Northern Alliance—a collection of armed groups—claimed responsibility for the attack on the Defense Services Technological Academy in Pyin Oo Lwin in western Shan state, where army engineers are trained, and attacks at four other locations. An Army spokesman said that soldiers were fighting rebels in Naung Cho township near the Gokteik viaduct, a towering railway bridge built under British colonial rule and a tourist hot-spot. France 24 Al-Jazeera
The Middle East and North Africa
Iran: Gibraltar Releases Oil Tanker. Gibraltar on Thursday released an Iranian oil tanker impounded six weeks ago, defying a U.S. request hours earlier to seize the ship. The ship’s crew also was released. Iran gave no immediate signal on whether it would release a British tanker that it seized in retaliation, but officials have pr
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eviously hinted at the possibility
of such a trade. The moves were the latest sign that
officials in Gibraltar, Tehran, and London, in negotiations over the
past few weeks, were trying to step back from an escalation between
Iran and the United States. The Gibraltar government
revealed on Thursday morning that the United States had applied to
seize the Iranian vessel. The New York
Times
Israel: Secret
Talks Underway with UAE, United States on Iran. The
United States is participating in talks between the UAE and Israel to
confront threats posed by Iran. The talks aim to broaden
military and intelligence cooperation between the UAE and
Israel. The UAE and Israel already share some security
connections and have held discussions in the past. Both
view Iran as a threat, andIsrael has sold fighter jet upgrades and
spyware to the UAE. But including the United States in
security talks could signal the UAE’s commitment to the Trump
administration’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran—even as
Emirati officials have stepped back from some of their own hardline
policies targeting Tehran. The New York
Times
Yemen:
Separatists Have Public Support in Aden.
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Aden on Thursday to
express support for separatist fighters who seized the southern port
city. Organizers said that many of the protesters came from
other surrounding southern provinces “to add their voice to the calls
for secession.” Protesters waved the flag of the old
independent southern Yemeni state, which was unified with the north
in 1990. Al-Jazeera
Sub-Saharan Africa
Sudan: Former Intelligence Chief Banned from U.S. The United States has imposed a visa ban on the
former director general of Sudan's national intelligence and security
services for his alleged involvement in gross human rights
violations. The State Department on Wednesday said that it has
"credible information" that Salah Abdalla Mohamed Mohamed
Salih, known as Salah Gosh, "was involved in torture during his
tenure as head of NISS." Gosh resigned his position as
security chief in April after the military forced out President Omar
al-Bashir. Gosh had worked with the security force for
nearly four decades. He faces charges of incitement and
involvement in the deaths of protesters. The ban blocks
Gosh and his family members from entry to the United
States. VOA News
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Intel Brief: Pro-Democracy Protests Rock Hong Kong
and Moscow
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In
Hong Kong and Moscow, long-simmering undercurrents of political
opposition have pitted protesters against unrepresentative
authoritarian governments.
- In Moscow, police
have used extreme force to crack down on the tens of thousands
of protesters in a series of demonstrations.
- The Hong Kong
protests are larger in scale and scope compared to what is
happening in Moscow and have brought the territory to a
standstill at times, particularly after protesters shifted their
focus to the airport.
- The Trump
administration has said little about the protests, while
Congressional members have been more vocal in supporting the
protesters while urging restraint by the Russian and Chinese
governments, respectively.
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