| | | | |  | | By Clea Caulcutt | Bonjour and welcome to this Wednesday’s edition of Global Insider! POLITICO’s Senior France Correspondent Clea Caulcutt here. All eyes here in Paris are on the countdown to the Olympic Games in July 2024 — exactly one year from now. The Organising Committee has unveiled the Olympic torch, made of recycled metal and celebrating the River Seine. But there are still a number of hurdles to clear before the opening ceremony, not least of all is deciding whether Russian athletes should be able to take part.
| | YOU’RE FIRED. Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang was sacked on Tuesday in a rare political scandal to engulf the Chinese government. Qin, a rising star in Chinese political circles and former favorite of President Xi Jinping, disappeared from view almost a month ago and has been replaced by Wang Yi, China’s most senior diplomat. Missing in action: Qin, who was a former ambassador to the U.S., abruptly disappeared from the public eye several weeks ago and was last seen on June 25 in Beijing after meeting with officials from Sri Lanka, Russia and Vietnam. Beijing canceled a visit by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell earlier this month, with EU diplomats initially told that the Chinese official “tested positive” for coronavirus. At one stage, the Chinese foreign affairs ministry said Qin was absent for “health reasons” before refusing to answer questions about him during his briefings. False start: The Chinese minister’s sudden disappearance came as the country was trying to restore dialogue with the West. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her Dutch counterpart, Wopke Hoekstra, were among those to have met with Qin in Beijing following the city’s reopening after the coronavirus pandemic. But Qin’s removal, though dramatic, is not expected to signal a fundamental change in China’s hard-nosed foreign policy. Sanguine reactions: Blinken said Wednesday that he expects to "work well" with China's new foreign minister. He added that he had known Wang “for more than a decade” and said Beijing’s move to fire Qin was “a sovereign decision.” Wang, who was recently promoted to the all-powerful Politburo, will now become the most senior party member to lead the foreign ministry in 25 years. Your guess is as good as mine: The lack of information over Qin’s removal is in keeping with the secretive, highly opaque political system in China, and it’s unlikely the true reasons will ever be confirmed. Qin will keep his title as state councilor, “though few expect Qin to still be able to perform that duty,” according to a commentary on Ming Pao, a Hong Kong newspaper. “The fact that Qin wasn’t replaced merely by an acting foreign minister … means that Qin is not going to return to the post.” There are many theories about Qin’s sudden fall from grace, which has fueled speculation that Xi’s 57-year-old confidante faced an internal investigation, a personal scandal or that he was the victim of rivalries inside the president’s inner circle. Rumors have been circulating on social media that Qin had an affair with a female television presenter, who is normally quite active on social media, but who also “disappeared” from the public eye, according to the BBC. Health issues also cannot be totally ruled out. Read more from Phelim Kine and Stuart Lau.
| | | | JOIN 7/27 FOR A TALK ON WOMEN LEADERS IN THE NEW WORKPLACE: In the wake of the pandemic, U.S. lawmakers saw a unique opportunity to address the current childcare system, which has become increasingly unaffordable for millions of Americans, but the initial proposals went nowhere. With the launch of the Congressional Bipartisan Affordable Childcare Caucus in May, there may be a path to make childcare more affordable. Join Women Rule on July 27 to dive into this timely topic and more with featured speakers Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Reshma Saujani, Founder & CEO of Moms First and Founder of Girls Who Code. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | | FRANCE’S PATCH IN THE PACIFIC. French President Emmanuel Macron is on a five-day tour in the Pacific Ocean, stopping off first in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia. The aim of the visit is to reassert France’s presence in the region, which “faces more and more tensions” with a “stronger” Chinese presence as well as a more present U.S., Macron said on Monday. As French diplomats never cease to point out, France has the largest maritime Exclusive Economic Zone in the world, mostly in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. China looming: Macron is also heading to Papua New Guinea and the islands of Vanuatu in what is the first visit by a French president since their independence in 1975 and 1980 respectively. “These are areas of influence where China has boosted its presence… We need to take responsibility… and show that France is a player in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Benjamin Haddad, an MP from Macron’s Renaissance party. Flexing muscles: Macron’s visit coincides with French military exercises, known as Pegasus 23, involving close to 20 planes, over 300 aviators, and several countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Singapore. Pegasus is meant to mark “France’s capacity to lead sovereignty operations,” Macron said in an interview with French channels TF1 and France 2. What the French aren’t doing: Going anywhere near Taiwan. France does not want to be in “a logic of confrontation” with China, said Haddad, though it will “take part in freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait”.The French are walking a tightrope in the Pacific Ocean, between its alliance with the U.S. and other Western countries and Macron’s desire for France to be “a balancing power” in the region. WE’RE BACK. U.S. first lady Jill Biden was in Paris on an official visit to France Tuesday to mark Washington’s reentry to UNESCO at a flag-raising ceremony. The Trump administration decided to pull out of the organization in 2017, citing its “anti-Israel bias” and arrears in payments to the organization. Under Biden, the U.S. decided to rejoin the organization mainly due to concerns that China had filled the leadership gap after Washington’s departure, Associated Press reports.
| | | MEETING TODAY — NATO AND UKRAINE REPS. Ambassadors of NATO member countries and Ukraine meet in Brussels this afternoon to discuss latest developments following the collapse of the U.N.-brokered Black Sea grain deal. Called at Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s request, it follows the inaugural meeting of the new forum at the alliance’s recent summit in Vilnius. But don’t hold your breath. Officials are managing expectations on what today’s meeting will actually deliver, writes POLITICO’s Jakob Hanke Vela. AFRICA SUMMIT: Meanwhile, officials in Brussels are nervously eyeing Thursday’s Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg. African leaders are expected to re-pitch their peace plan at the gathering, which got a cool reception from the Kremlin earlier this year. Moscow wants to discuss Russian grain exports to the region, trying to capitalize on the collapse of the Black Sea Grain Initiative to boost its own sales and gain influence in Africa. U.N.’s Guterres speaks out: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has urged Russia to return to the deal allowing Ukraine to safely export grain through the Black Sea in line with a proposal he made to Putin. “With the termination of the Black Sea initiative, the most vulnerable will pay the highest price,” Reuters quoted Guterres telling the U.N. Food Systems summit in Rome on Monday. “When food prices rise, everybody pays for it.” Nah: The Kremlin rebuffed the appeal by Guterres on Tuesday.
| | | REALITY BITES. The dust is settling after Sunday’s election in Spain and it appears that while the leader of the conservative Popular Party got the most votes, he doesn’t have enough support to form a government. Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s prospects of becoming Spain’s next prime minister have been all but snuffed out after two regional parties refused to join a coalition. A numbers game: Feijóo’s Popular Party controls 136 seats in parliament, and has aspired to form a government with far-right Vox party which has 33 MPs, and some regional parties to get to the magic 176-seat number. Resurgent Sánchez: Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez could stay in office if he is able to cobble together a coalition behind him, but nothing is a given, yet. POLITICO’s Aitor Hernandez-Morales has the details. Now read this: Dancing with the far right doesn’t pay off, argue Kristina Kausch and Vassilis Ntousas in a column for POLITICO. EUROPE IN FLAMES. As temperatures soar above 40C in parts of the Mediterranean, several countries are battling deadly wildfires as the tourist season hits its high point. In Sicily, Italy, the Palermo airport was closed for several hours on Tuesday as the flames reached just outside the perimeter. Greece has been the worst affected with more than 21,000 people evacuated from the islands of Corfu and Rhodes. In Rhodes, thousands of tourists were hurriedly evacuated from the Greek island of Rhodes in near apocalyptic scenes, while a Canadian firefighting aircraft crashed on Evia, killing both pilots on board. Man-made disaster: The heat that is scorching shores and forests across the Continent and North America would have been “virtually impossible” without man-made global warming, scientists said in a study on Tuesday. More details with POLITICO’s Zia Weise and Giovanna Coi. Mixed messaging: However, politicians have a word of advice for tourists who might be freaked out over roasting temperatures and hellish landscapes of roaring forest fires: Swallow your fears and keep enjoying your holiday. POLITICO’s Mari Eccles and Giovanna Coi have more. BRUSSELS TERROR ATTACK VERDICT: A Brussels court on Tuesday found eight people guilty of murder and attempted murder in the 2016 Brussels terror attacks that killed 32 and injured more than 300. One of the eight is Salah Abdeslam, who is already serving a life sentence for his role in the 2015 Paris terrorist attacks.
| | MOVES — BACK TO PARIS: Erica Barks-Ruggles has been appointed head of the U.S. Mission to UNESCO. — ‘DEBANKING’ SAGA: NatWest Chief Executive Alison Rose has stepped down after she confessed to being the source for an inaccurate BBC story about why Nigel Farage was dropped as a client by NatWest-owned Coutts bank. BRAIN FOOD Israel’s crisis is just beginning, a long read from Noga Tarnopolsky, a journalist who has been covering Israel and Palestine for 25 years, on POLITICO. ‘Battleground: Ukraine,’ a podcast on the war, its narratives, turning points and characters with military historians Patrick Bishop and Saul David. Thanks to Stuart Lau, my editor Sanya Khetani-Shah and producer Sophie Gardner. SUBSCRIBE to the POLITICO newsletter family: D.C. Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook | Paris Playbook| Ottawa Playbook| EU Confidential | | Digital Bridge | China Watcher | Berlin Bulletin | D.C. Influence | EU Influence | London Influence | Paris Influence
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