In Geopolitics Today: Thursday, September 1st
China Invests in Brazil, Vostok 2022 Military Exercises Begin, and other stories.
Romania Looks to Purchase Turkish Bayraktar Drones
Romania is preparing to purchase Turkish-built Bayraktar TB2 unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV). According to media reports, yhe Romanian Ministry of Defense has sent a request to Parliament to purchase 18 TB2s for an estimated price of $300 million. The Bayraktar TB2 UCAV has proven highly effective wherever they have been fielding, bringing Turkey’s growing defence industry a further boost in sales.
Baykar, the Turkish manufacturer of the UCAVs, has established a production facility in the United Arab Emirates and is attracting a lot of potential buyers due to the success of the system. TB2s have seen battlefield success in Libya, Syria and Nagorno-Karabakh, and have more recently proven similarly successful against the sophisticated electronic warfare capabilities and air defence systems of Russian forces in Ukraine.
Read more about this story here.
China Invests in Brazil
Investment by Chinese companies in Brazil continues to grow, with Brazil now the main destination for Chinese investment last year. A recent report published by the China-Brazil Business Council reveals that Chinese investments in Brazil have significantly increased after falling in recent years, reinforcing the growing nature of the bilateral relationship.
Over 85% of China's investments into the country were in the oil and gas sectors, as Chinese state-owned oil companies CNODC and CNOOC made investments as part of their involvement in extraction operations at the Santos Basin. Chinese company Tencent Holdings were one of the companies to make sizable investments in Brazil's tech space with investments in Nubank, QuintoAndar, Frete.com and Cora. Brazil's start-up space and oil and gas sector are likely to continue to draw Chinese investment, with Beijing increasingly favouring profitable foreign companies over risky government projects.
Read more about this story here.
Japan to Import LNG to Avoid Energy Crisis
Japan’s government plans to revise laws in order to introduce measures that ensure a stable supply of natural gas. The country’s overwhelming dependence on imported fossil fuels — making up 90 percent of Japan’s energy consumption — has meant Tokyo is unable to fully join its G7 partners in giving up Russian gas.
Tokyo is already looking to revise existing law to introduce measures that will curb gas supplies to large-scale users to ensure stable supplies. Initial plans foresee gas utilities and the government asking both households and businesses to conserve energy. If that fails, compulsory curbs may be levied as higher fuel prices and a tumbling currency are putting pressure on Japan's energy security.
Read more about this story here.
Vostok 2022 Military Exercises Begin
Russia has launched a week of Vostok 2022 military drills involving forces from partner countries. The Russian defence ministry has specified that the Vostok 2022 (East 2022) exercise will take place over the course of a week at seven firing ranges in Russia’s Far East and the Sea of Japan. The exercise will involve more than 50,000 troops, 5,000 weapons units, 140 aircraft and 60 warships.
The exercise continues cooperation in joint war games by Russia and China in partnership with others. Last year, Russian troops were deployed to Chinese territory for joint drills for the first time, and this year’s joint drills are set to involve patrols by long-range bombers over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. Even though Moscow and Beijing in the past rejected the possibility of forging a military alliance, yet both countries now increasingly share highly sensitive military technologies with each other that may work to bolster the defence capabilities of both countries.