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Sri Lankan Commando Regiment members in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

What We’re Watching: Sri Lanka’s shrinking military, mass shootings in America, McCarthy’s Taiwan visit, a common currency pipedream

Sri Lanka’s military downsize

In its latest bid to cut the economic fat, Sri Lanka's government announced that it will downsize its army, aiming to reduce the number of military personnel from 200,783 to 135,000 by next year and to 100,000 by 2030. Sri Lankan defense officials say the army is restructuring in order to boost its tech capabilities, primarily in cyberspace. But analysts highlight that this is part of President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s pledge to slash the bloated public sector, a precondition to unlocking a $2.9 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund. Crucially, military salaries make up around 37% of public wage costs. Cash-strapped Sri Lanka defaulted on its external debt for the first time in May 2022, after years of economic mismanagement led to acute fuel and food shortages – and forced Colombo to borrow heavily from India and China. With the bulk of Sri Lanka’s defense spending going to salaries rather than investment in equipment, this plan presents an opportunity for the country to correct its balance sheet. But some critics worry that Colombo, facing an internal terror threat, could be moving too hard too fast.

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Pelosi Taiwan visit reflects extremely strong US Congress support
Pelosi Taiwan Visit Reflects Extremely Strong US Congress Support | US Politics :60 | GZERO Media

Pelosi Taiwan visit reflects extremely strong US Congress support

Jon Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's coverage of political and policy developments in Washington, DC, shares his analysis on US politics:

What are the lasting implications of Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan?

House Speaker this week, Nancy Pelosi, became the highest ranking US government official to visit the island of Taiwan since the 1990s, setting off an enormous controversy within mainland China that prompted them to fire missiles into Taiwanese waters and directly threaten the United States.

The Biden administration reportedly was concerned about the trip, but nonetheless provided Pelosi with the logistical support that the House Speaker asked for in order to get there.

Pelosi's trip served no obvious purpose other than to show the island the extremely strong level of support for them in Congress, so strong, in fact, that several senior members of Congress are considering a new Taiwan Policy Act that would upend the status quo in US-Taiwan relations and potentially lead to even more blowback from China.

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