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What the late-December 2020 reports showed
Summary
A look back at three separate security developments reported between 21 and 23 December 2020, from Minsk to Seoul to Bangui.
What did the final days before Christmas 2020 reveal about the reach of great-power politics? Looking back from 25 December 2020, three reports from the preceding days point in different directions, yet each involves states using force, sanctions or military signalling.
On 21 December, Rwanda deployed what it called a "protection force" to the Central African Republic after its peacekeepers were attacked by rebel forces advancing on the capital, Bangui. The Rwandan and Central African Republic governments accused former President François Bozizé of backing the rebels and plotting a coup, which he denied. Russia also sent troops and heavy weaponry to support the government.
On 22 December, South Korea said it scrambled fighter jets after four Chinese and fifteen Russian military aircraft entered its air defence identification zone. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said China had notified it in advance of a joint military exercise between China and Russia.
On 23 December, the Trump administration imposed additional sanctions on Belarusian officials and four offices over human rights abuses during protests against President Alexander Lukashenko.
A shared thread
Russia appeared in two of the three episodes: as a supplier of troops and weaponry to a government facing rebels, and as a partner in an exercise with China near South Korea. The Belarus sanctions were a separate track, aimed at officials accused of abuses during the protests.
For readers in Kyiv and neighbouring capitals, the reports are a reminder that pressure and military activity in late 2020 played out well beyond Europe's borders.
