What Actually Mattered This Week: South China Sea, UK's Huawei Ban, Poland's Presidency

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WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERED THIS WEEK

My thoughts on some of this week’s biggest news stories:

U.S. Rejects Most Chinese Maritime Claims in South China Sea

This is the first time the US has officially rejected Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, though it has unofficially denounced China’s maritime overreach in the past.

Largely symbolic move, but significant nonetheless. It's the United States officially aligning itself with the 2016 ruling in The Hague instead of supporting it abstractly, which is what the Obama administration did.

UK bans Huawei from its 5G network in rapid about-face

Big win for the US in the US-China tech war.

The US fight for tech supremacy vs China has been the single most successful multilateral policy of the Trump Administration. Almost all key US allies now aligned on an issue they mostly didn’t care about (and should have) a couple years ago.

Trump ends preferential economic treatment for Hong Kong

The Trump administration ends Hong Kong’s special trade status over the new national security law.

China condemns the move.

Hong Kong bears the brunt of both the law and economic fallout.

Poland's Duda narrowly beats Trzaskowski in presidential vote

51.2% for Duda, 48.2% for Trzaskowski.

Poland’s slimmest presidential election victory since the end of communism in 1989.

TRUTHS, DAMNED TRUTHS, AND STATISTICS

China GDP up 3.2% in Q2, making it the first major economy to report positive economic growth after covid hit

-BBC

THE GZERO WORLD WE’RE JUST LIVING IN

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GRAPHIC TRUTH 

YOUR GZERO WORLD

As GZERO World kicks off its third season, I’m examining the state of U.S. response and recovery six months into the pandemic. Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) joins to discuss what Congress has done to provide economic relief to businesses and people impacted by the unexpected and unprecedented downturn, and next steps still to come. He also takes jabs at GOP Congressional colleagues who he says have "followed (Trump's) lead rather than science."

We discuss reports of a Russian bounty plot to pay for the murders of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. Coons tells the story of 43-year-old Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Christopher Slutman who died in a 2019 roadside bombing alleged to be a part of that plot.

We also dive into election security and the 2020 presidential race. Coons offers details of "The Biden Doctrine," what U.S. foreign policy could look like if Biden wins. He also discusses lessons learned from Sec. Hillary Clinton's failed 2016 campaign.

For a longer, more in-depth version of my interview with Senator Coons, check out the GZERO World podcast.

WORLD IN 60 SECONDS

Trump vs Fauci. What's going on here?

Why did the UK, United Kingdom, reverse course and ban Huawei and where does that leave China?

Finally, with the US rejecting China's maritime claims in the South China Sea, how will this further escalate tensions?

Find out in this week’s World in 60 Seconds!

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BECAUSE THE INTERNET

The most effective warning they could’ve posted

DEEP THOUGHTS

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any." – Alice Walker

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Ian Bremmer is president of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media and foreign affairs columnist at TIME. He currently teaches at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and previously was a professor at New York University. You can follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.