TWTW: The World This Week / Episode #73

Elections 2024: Taiwan chooses … target Houthi … revolution in Macronland … tell it to the world court … the richest woman … oops: money meltdown in Paris … cartoonist Le Hic imagines the Élysée.

This weekly feature for Andelman Unleashed, continues on its mission to explore how the media of other nations are reporting and commenting on the United States, and how they are viewing the rest of the world.

Elections 2024: Taiwan

Faceoff: China's dragon…Taiwan's blue magpie …. Cartoon by Stellina of Taiwan from Le Monde p. 1

Taiwan has gone with the status quo—electing as its new president, Lai Ching-te, candidate of the same Democratic People's Party as incumbent Tsai Ing-wen, who has held office since 2016 and was barred by the island nation’s constitution from standing for a third four-year term.

As Le Monde's Harold Thibault reported from Taipei on Saturday, Lai is "hated by Beijing for his past comments on independence, [but] won the presidential election on the island with which the Chinese government promises reunification."

Lai easily outdistanced two opponents, each promising a new direction—various degrees of reconciliation with China.

Ironically, had Lai's two opponents agreed to join forces last November as Beijing clearly hoped, Taiwan might have seen a substantial change in direction as a majority of voters did appear to favor more appeasement. Indeed, it appears that Lai’s party did lose its absolute majority in parliament.

For a deep-dive look at the consequences of this landmark vote, do watch for my analysis mid-week in American Purpose.

How others see America

Target Houthi or Typhoons over Yemen

If there was any question of the broader stakes—and risks—from the expanding war in Gaza it was the joint action by American and British forces against the Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen and the havoc they have been wreaking on world shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. It’s also the first time they have gone into offensive action since the outbreak of the Gaza war.

As the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung put it:

For a long time it was a mystery as to what the Americans would do against the Houthis. Now Washington and its allies have apparently lost patience with the pirate-turned Yemeni militiamen who have been making shipping in the Red Sea unsafe for two months.

The Times of London, observing that the goal was to make the Red Sea, and the Suez Canal, safe again for world shipping, elaborated with a map detailing the actual targets of the first round of attacks, with a second salvo during the night of Friday into Saturday.

The British fighters' trajectory after lifting off from Akrotiri, their high security airbase on Cyprus, required a midair refueling before joining up with jet fighters off the US aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, along with Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from nearby destroyers and submarines. As France 24 reported, "60 targets at 16 Houthi locations were hit by more than 100 precision-guided munitions."

[With thanks to Navy Lookout from the Royal Navy]

The attacks were aimed at destroying drone and ballistic missiles launch pads and storage facilities in regions of Yemen controlled by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. Reaction was immediate and quite predictable.

Huge protests—as many as 2 million by some estimates—in Sanaa, the Houthi-controlled capital of Yemen….

…threats from Houthi leaders…

And a lineup of forces pro and con followed quickly on the American and British action. As The Times of London observed:

All American and British interests are “legitimate targets” of Houthi forces, the Iran-backed group has said, after the group’s military spokesman, Yahya Sarea, denounced the “brutal aggression” and said there would be reprisals.

[British Prime Minister] Rishi Sunak defended the strikes against Houthi military targets in Yemen as a limited and proportionate reaction to attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and said they constituted self-defence. But Russia, Iran and Turkey criticized an “escalation” of conflict in the Middle East, following Israel’s war in Gaza and disruption of global shipping routes.

One real question that some were asking? Where was everyone else?

As Le Monde observed:

While 75% of European exports pass through the Suez Canal, located north of the Red Sea, and maritime traffic in the area has fallen by 22% in recent weeks, only the United Kingdom, Washington's faithful military ally, quickly deployed a destroyer to support the new coalition. The United Kingdom is also the only European country to have fully contributed to the strikes on Houthi rebel sites.

Which has only amped up pressure for some sort of European Defense Force—first floated by French president Emmanuel Macron just ahead of Donald Trump's state visit to Paris early in both leaders' administrations. Now, perhaps a bit more traction for this concept? Well in fact there is a European External Action Service and now, Playbook Brussels is reporting that finally the "EU mulls sending…at least three warships to safeguard vessels in the Red Sea. According to a document from the European External Action Service seen by POLITICO, 'a new EU operation' would be created that would 'act in a broader area of operation, from the Red Sea to the Gulf'….and as early as February.”

Incidentally, the State Department is now weighing in itself, affirming:

Iran’s financial support to the Houthis has fueled their unrelenting attacks on global commerce in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The United States is today designating two additional companies that have been involved in the shipment of Iranian commodities in support of the Iran-based, Houthi financial facilitator Sa’id al-Jamal and his network. We are also identifying four vessels as blocked property in which these companies have an interest.

The United States will continue to counter illicit Iranian financial support to the Houthis.  

How others see the World

Getting ready in the Elysée

Could Emmanuel Macron be getting ready for the next chapter in his remarkable career?  It certainly appeared this week that he's preparing for the European Parliament elections in June—and French power in Europe? But how about his real legacy? With his appointment of a new prime minister followed by a dramaticlly new cabinet, could he also be setting up one or more successors to battle it out for the next presidential election for which he will no longer be eligible? Mais oui!

As the leading French daily, Le Monde put it:

Emmanuel Macron is done with the "amateurs" he was so proud of in 2017. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal's cabinet, announced from the winter garden of the Elysée Palace, marks a return to the politics of yesteryear, that of an "old world" that the president imagined throwing out the window when he was first elected.

To form his "close ranks" team, according to the Elysée, and to prioritize "action, action, action," in the words of the new prime minister, Macron drew on the roster of former president Nicolas Sarkozy by recruiting former Justice Minister Rachida Dati (from 2007 to 2009) and ventured into Jacques Chirac's territory to seek out Catherine Vautrin, minister of women's rights from 2005 to 2007.

At 34 years old Gabriel Attal is the youngest prime minister since Charles de Gaulle launched the 5^th Republic in 1958, indeed the youngest since Napoleon assumed office as First Consul at the age of 30. Before him, there was the Duc de Sully who King Henry IV in 1589 named as Chief Minister of State at the age of 39. Macron himself, of course, won his first term as President of France also at 39.

What really shook up the French political landscape, however, was the sharp right turn his cabinet appeared to have taken.

The day after the extraordinary announcement, the Le Monde banner proclaimed, "Macron anchors his new government to the right," while its lede editorial asked "return to the Sarkozy years?" a reference to the determinedly right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy who French voters repudiated after a single term for left-wing socialist François Hollande who then gave way to the moderate Macron, and who last year was awarded a rare second term.

Macron clearly recognizes that his greatest political threat is from his right flank, hence his turning to Sarkozy and Chirac politicos, especially the remarkable and "mediable" Rachida Dati, who has been quietly biding her time as “mayor” of the chic 7^th arrondissement in Paris. But to watch her preside over a meeting of the local quartier—as we did last November in the local town hall—is to recognize this is a politician who has very large ambitions indeed.

Which is probably why the first action taken against her by her old party was expulsion from the ranks of Les Republicans—the center-right party that is itself struggling to find its footing between the far-right of Marine Le Pen and the shrinking though still powerful center occupied buy Macron. Could one be forgiven for suspecting Macron may be looking to anoint an heir?

Meanwhile, Macron hardly hesitated in giving the prime minister and his new cabinet their marching orders: “action action action.”

The news magazine Le Point, meanwhile had another take on how Dati cemented her place in the Macron firmament:

Brigitte Macron , real HR director of the macronie universe? How can we not see the first lady's touch in the surprise of this reshuffle, the arrival at the helm of the Ministry of Culture of Rachida Dati? The Élysée may repeat that the idea sprang from the head of state's hat, but the former Minister of Justice had a strong ally within the "Madame wing" of the Château in the person of the wife of the president.

Tell it to the [World] Court

South Africa dragged Israel before the World Court, bringing a complaint of genocide. As Le Monde put it:

Pretoria brought the case to the highest judicial authority of the United Nations, affirming that the military operations in Gaza in retaliation for the attack of October 7 “are of a genocidal character, because they are accompanied by the specific intention required to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza.” “Totally distorted” accusations, and “a deliberately organized, decontextualized and manipulative description of the reality of current hostilities…

In its request, South Africa also urgently seized the ICJ to order it to take “precautionary measures” in order to suspend as quickly as possible the Israeli bombings in the Palestinian enclave, which have caused at least 23,000 deaths in three months, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. But what is the power of the International Court of Justice?

As the BBC reported, these questions were answered by Israel.…

Israel said South Africa has distorted the truth in its case….South Africa had presented "a sweeping counter-factual description" of the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Israeli lawyer Tal Becker told the ICJ. In his opening remarks he told the court that while the civilian suffering was "tragic", Hamas sought "to maximise civilian harm to both Israelis and Palestinians, even as Israel seeks to minimise it".

South Africa, he said, "has regrettably put before the court a profoundly distorted factual and legal picture, [and] the entirety of its case hinges on a deliberately curated, decontextualised and manipulative description of the reality of current hostilities".

Mr Becker accused South Africa of making "an attempt to weaponise the term genocide against Israel". He said South Africa was also seeking "to thwart Israel's inherent right to defend itself."

At the same time, the BBC observed, "What the ICJ will deliver on the genocide allegation will be only an opinion, although it is being closely watched. A final ruling on this could take years, although the court could rule more quickly on South Africa's request for Israel to suspend its military campaign."

Who's the richest woman of them all?

Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, heiress to the L'Oréal fortune is the first woman worth $100 billion,  Aleksandra Lubańska-Czubak reported in the leading Polish daily Wyborcza. "And yet she is only the 12th person on the richest list. There are 11 men in front of her. [She] avoids the media, is shy and withdrawn. She loves playing the piano."

The irony of her background?

Her father was the French politician Andre Bettencourt, a minister in the governments of Pierre Mendès-France and Charles de Gaulle [who] in the interwar period belonged to the secret fascist organization Comité Secret d'Action Révolutionnaire (La Cagoule), which, among other things issued death sentences to communists, and during the Vichy period he collaborated with the Nazis and supported the extermination of Jews. Françoise's mother was Liliane Bettencourt and it was from her that she inherited the L'Oréal fortune. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is the wife of Jean-Pierre Meyers, a banker of Jewish origin, grandson of a rabbi murdered in Auschwitz, with whom she has two sons.

She's also a philanthropist and after the fire that destroyed Paris’s landmark Notre Dame cathedral, L'Oréal and the Bettencourt Meyers family jointly agreed to donate $226 million. for its reconstruction.

And then there's chump change in Paris

Oops…..If you're visiting Paris and having a tough time finding some of those little coins that are de rigeur for most cash transactions, La Lettre has one explanation. The online newsletter, which describes itself as "the reference on power in France," and prides itself on its exclusives, had a doozy:

The Monnaie de Paris, the organization responsible for minting euros in France, is at the origin of a big blunder which led to the destruction of … 27 million 10, 20 and 50 euro cent coins displaying a new design, without waiting for the [obligatory] prior validation of the European Commission….The boss of the Paris Mint wanted the new coins to be presented to the Minister of the Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, during a trip to the headquarters of the Paris Mint, Quai de Conti.  Invitations had even been sent.

To satisfy the request of their impatient CEO, the workers of the Monnaie de Paris worked three shifts for four days in a row to make the institution shine on the appointed day. [Their boss] had planned everything...except the regulatory seven days of waiting to obtain the approval of the European Commission, which must validate all euro coins and notes.

Disaster a few days before the ministerial presentation: the new French design was rejected by Europe. The cause: difficult-to-read stars on the face representing the European continent. An unforgivable affront regarding the symbol of the European Union!

At the Paris Mint, it was therefore necessary to destroy the tons of incompatible centimes, then urgently re-mint 27 million coins.

Finally, there’s Le Hic….

The new Macron regime and its youngest-ever prime minister has led Algerian cartoonist Le Hic to imagine the configuration of the table in the Elysée palace where the Council of Ministers assembles. "Gabriel Attal, youngest prime minister of the fifth republic," the caption reads.

Hichem Baba Ahmed, the Algerian cartoonist who draws under the name Le Hic, began his career as a cartoonist at L’Authentique in 1985. He then worked at Le Matin, Le Jeune Indépendant and has been drawing since 2006 for Le Soir d’Algérie and may also be found in the Algerian daily El Watan and in Courrier International. Le Hic has been sued many times, especially when he worked at Le Matin. He has won 8 lawsuits for defamation of character and insulting the president of the republic with a suspended sentence of three months in prison in 2005 for one of his cartoons. Since 2011, Le Hic has also been the editor-in-chief and cartoonist of the comic strip magazine El Bendir. He is a member of the global, Paris-based collective Cartooning for Peace. 

Here’s how Le Hic imagines himself: