text: CHINA VISIT BY GERMAN CHANCELLOR MAY REVEAL LEVEL OF ECONOMIC INTERDEPENDENCE: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is set to arrive in China Friday to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Scholz is the first G7 leader to visit China since the COVID pandemic began, and his activities will be closely monitored by both China watchers and European economists. Germany’s economic dependence on China, its largest trading partner, is a security concern for U.S. officials. A recent report from a German think tank revealed that German industrial firms are almost completely reliant on inputs from China, a concern to the U.S. since many U.S. manufacturing firms use German-made precision machinery. Those security concerns are also shared by a growing number of German politicians. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, in an interview with German media giant ARD, said, “It is extremely important that we never again make ourselves so dependent on a country that does not share our values.” Scholz is scheduled to meet with both Xi Jinping and Chinese Premier Li Kequiang – a former Chinese technology titan. Russia-NATO SITREPSERBIA DECLARES OPEN SEASON ON DRONES FROM KOSOVO, INCREASES ALERT STATUS: Speaking to TV media, Serbian Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said drones from Kosovo had violated Serbian Airspace. While the minister admitted he was not sure who the owner of the drones was, he did say he had given orders placing Serbian military forces on a “higher alert” status and authorized them to “eliminate” any drones entering Serbian airspace. Kosovo’s Defense Minister Armend Mehaj denied drones were entering Serbia from his country, denouncing the claims as a “pretext” to “increase the number of Serbian troops” on the border and ”spread panic” amid an ongoing spat over license plates.RUSSIA RETURNS TO BLACK SEA GRAIN DEAL: After a written agreement was reached with Ukraine through assistance from the United Nations and Turkey, Russian officials announced the country would return to the Black Sea Grain Deal. Russian officials said the Ukrainian agreement “appears to be sufficient” to ensure that the humanitarian corridor would not be utilized for military attacks, allowing the return of Russian commitments but said Russia maintained the right to withdraw at any time. Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak denounced the pause of the deal by Russia as an attempt to use “escalation and threats,” saying, “When you want to play blackmail, it is important not to outplay yourself.”Latin America SITREPGERMANY TO REVITALIZE BRAZIL’S AMAZON FUND: German Development Ministry officials announced the country would discuss unfreezing funds to the Brazilian Amazon fund with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s transition team. Citing Lula’s promises to protect the rainforest, German officials said there was a “great willingness to quickly reach out to Brazil” following Lula’s victory in Sunday’s runoff election. The announcement comes on the heels of a similar statement by Norwegian officials regarding the Amazon Fund’s $500 million in endowments that were frozen when Jair Bolsonaro took office in 2019.China & Indo-Pacific SITREP