(Want to get this briefing by email? Here’s the sign-up.)

Good morning.

We look at President Xi Jinping’s quest to absorb Taiwan, the U.S. Congress’s first day back and a 300-mile human chain in India. Here’s the latest:

President Xi Jinping urges unification with Taiwan

The Chinese leader called Taiwan’s autonomy “a wound to the Chinese nation” and demanded greater progress in Beijing’s decades-long quest to win control of the disputed island.

Details: Mr. Xi gave Taiwan two options: He could use military force if the self-ruled territory grasped for independence, or he could offer a “one country, two systems” deal, similar to the framework used in Hong Kong. But the president didn’t lay down a timetable for either path.

Reaction: People in Taiwan are unlikely to be receptive to Mr. Xi’s offer, especially as they watch Beijing squeeze Hong Kong’s political freedoms.

Context: China and Taiwan have been in conflict over the island’s status since 1949, when forces defeated by Mao Zedong retreated to the island. Tensions increased when the island moved to democratic elections in the 1990s. Today, only 3 percent of Taiwan’s population favors immediate unification with China, according to a recent survey.

Day 1 of America’s divided government

Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives when it reconvenes today, representing the first taste of a split government during the Trump era.

Details: The U.S. government has been partly shut down for nearly two weeks after a legislative impasse over funding for a border wall.

What to watch for: President Trump has invited congressional leaders of both parties to a briefing on border security. Representative Nancy Pelosi, who is likely to be elected speaker today, has said the wall can’t be part of any deal to reopen the government.

North Korean leader issues warning to the U.S.

Kim Jong-un said on Tuesday that he was willing to hold a second summit meeting with President Trump, but he added that if international sanctions weren’t lifted, the North would “have no choice” but to return to nuclear confrontation.

“We will not make nuclear weapons and we will not proliferate nuclear weapons,” Mr. Kim said. But he added that it “won’t be good” if the U.S. didn’t make “corresponding measures.”

Details: Progress between the U.S. and North Korea hinges on the definition of “denuclearization.” For the U.S., that means the North giving up its entire arsenal. For North Korea, it also includes a reciprocal pullback of America’s ability to threaten the country with nuclear weapons.

Analysis: Mr. Kim has essentially returned to where things stood when Mr. Trump took office, indicating that their meeting in Singapore in June altered the optics of their relationship more than the reality, writes our national security correspondent.

A secret temple visit in India and a 300-mile human chain

Two women in the southern Indian state of Kerala sneaked into a centuries-old Hindu shrine that has long barred women of childbearing age.

Context: In October, India’s Supreme Court ruled that the ban on women entering the temple was unconstitutional. Since then, women trying to set foot in the shrine have been pushed back by mobs shouting in their faces and hurling stones.

Why it matters: This recent development in Kerala was part of a broader movement for equality in the country. Hours before the women entered the temple, an estimated five million people formed a 300-mile-long human chain protesting gender inequality.

Reaction: The news was met with protests across the state. The police moved relatives of one of the women to a safe house, local news media reported. And a Hindu priest shut down the temple for “purification rituals.”

But one officer stationed near the temple said the two women, whose names were given only as Bindu and Kanakadurga, were “real heroines.”

Here’s what else is happening

U.S.-China trade talks: As negotiations seeking to reach a deal by March 2 begin, we take a look at the U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer, a China skeptic who wants to keep an anxious president from making a hasty compromise to calm the markets.

Markets: The new year started on a down note, as shares on Wall Street tumbled at the start of trading, following declines in Europe and Asia, but were close to flat later in the day.

Tesla: The auto company reported a 15 percent increase in quarterly production but also announced a price cut for all models, which could suggest softer demand.

Censorship factories: Our New New World columnist takes an inside look at Chinese companies whose thousands of low-wage workers help the government monitor and scrub content online.

Birth tourism: Chinese mothers choosing to give birth in Canada to get citizenship for their babies are facing growing opposition in the country, with some Canadians calling the legal practice “unethical.”

Cultural Revolution: The Chinese photographer Li Zhensheng has been on a decades-long mission to make his country remember the decade when up to 1.5 million died, according to some estimates. Now he’s published a Chinese-language book of his photographs from the 1960s.

Moon landing: The Chinese spacecraft Chang’e-4 will make the first-ever attempt to land on the far side of the moon today. [BBC]

Ultima Thule: A NASA spacecraft successfully completed a flyby of that small, icy world — the most distant object in space ever explored.

Saudi Arabia: Netflix blocked an episode of Hasan Minhaj’s talk show from streaming in the kingdom after the Saudi government complained that the program, in which the comedian criticized Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, violated its cybercrime laws.

Qatar: The predominantly Muslim country imposed a 100 percent tax on alcohol, effectively doubling the cost of imported beverages in an attempt to restrict consumption.

Russia: More than two dozen people died when an apartment building partly collapsed after an explosion. About a dozen others are still missing.

Smarter Living

Tips for a more fulfilling life.

Recipe of the day: Marinate salmon in miso paste and maple syrup for a quick, delicious meal.

Welcome to 2019. Here’s how to eat a little better.

Making changes in the new year? Use science to stick to your goals.

Back Story

How do you acknowledge a colleague’s message? After a recent digital exchange, this writer looked into the history of one of his favored responses: “Roger that.”

In the days of Morse code, an R was sent to indicate that a message had been received.

That system evolved with the introduction of radio communications. Early transmissions were often of poor quality, so, to avoid misunderstandings, spelling alphabets were developed. Also called phonetic alphabets, they replaced letters with words that started with the corresponding letter.

By World War II, the U.S. and British militaries had settled on a standard: Able for A, Baker for B … and Roger for R. (Previously, the British had used Robert.)

In the 1950s, a new alphabet — commonly referred to as the NATO phonetic alphabet — was adopted, and is now the most widely used. It replaced Roger with Romeo. (I’m planning to stick with Roger.)

Chris Stanford, on the briefings team, wrote today’s Back Story.

Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. Sign up here to get it by email in the Australian, Asian, European or American morning. You can also receive an Evening Briefing on U.S. weeknights.

And our Australia bureau chief offers a weekly letter adding analysis and conversations with readers.

Browse our full range of Times newsletters here.

What would you like to see here? Contact us at [email protected].

Source: Read Full Article