MNI POLITICAL RISK-Blinken To Strike Delicate Balance In China

Executive Summary:

• The Senate yesterday overwhelmingly passed a USD$95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific. The package also includes language requiring Chinese company ByteDance to divest from TikTok, authorises the seizure of Russian sovereign assets, and a calls for range of new sanctions on Iran’s oil sector - including the expansion of secondary sanctions to cover Chinese transactions in Iranian crude oil.
• The Pentagon is preparing a roughly USD$1 billion package of military aid to be dispatched to Ukraine after President Biden signs the bill into law today.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in China today for a challenging trip designed to dial-down tensions and convey a raft of concerns including Chinese support for Russia, Chinese industrial overcapacity, and confrontational Chinese naval actions in the South China Sea.
• The Federal Trade Commission yesterday finalised broad regulations banning most non-compete clauses in employment contracts. The rule is expected to come into effect in August.
• Former GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley received 17% of the vote share in the Pennsylvania presidential primary yesterday - a warning sign for former President Donald Trump.
• A new survey of swing states has found that Biden’s recent polling bump in key battleground states, “has mostly evaporated as a deep current of pessimism about the trajectory of the US economy hurts his standing with voters.”
• Poll of the Day: Americans say, “limiting the power and influence of Russia and China,” are the US’ top long-term foreign policy priorities.

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MNIPOLRISKUSDaily240424.pdf