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PDB Afternoon Bulletin | July 23rd, 2025: Uprisings In Kyiv as Zelensky's Government Enters Crisis Mode & Beijing Bans US Federal Employee From Leaving China
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- [00:00]
Mike Baker
Looking to diversify and protect your hard earned assets. Well, schedule a free consultation call with the Birch Gold Group. They're the precious metals specialists. Just text PDB to the number 989898 and you'll receive a free no obligation information kit. And you'll learn how to convert an existing IRA or a 401k into a gold IRA. Again, it's simple. Just text PDB to the number 989898. Foreign It's Wednesday, the 23rd of July. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, thousands of Ukrainians take to the streets in Kiev and other cities to protest a controversial new law signed late yesterday by President Zelensky that effectively guts the country's top two anti corruption agencies. Now they're the first major anti government demonstrations to hit Ukraine since Russia's invasion more than three years ago and could jeopardize Zelensky's hopes to join the European Union. Later in the show, US China relations take yet another turn for the worse as Beijing imposes exit bans on a U.S. government employee and a corporate executive, both U.S. citizens, by the way, barring them from leaving the country. We'll have those details, but first, the afternoon spotlight. We'll begin today in Ukraine, where President Zelensky's government is under fire over a controversial new law that critics are calling a legislative power grab. As we discussed earlier on the pdb, Ukraine's parliament rammed through a bill on Tuesday that grants the country's prosecutor general broad new powers over the National Anti Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, known as the naboo, and the Specialized Anti Corruption Prosecutor's Office, known as sapo, two agencies once touted as pillars of democratic reforms. Despite public calls for a veto, Zelensky hastily signed the measure into law on Tuesday evening, sparking massive unrest throughout the country. Thousands of Ukrainians poured into the streets of Kyiv and several other cities Tuesday night and a Wednesday to protest the law, marking the first major anti government demonstrations since the war began. Protesters say the law will significantly weaken the independence of the country's anti corruption infrastructure, giving Zelensky and his inner circle greater influence over investigations. As a reminder, the new law will allow the prosecutor general, a Zelensky loyalist, by the way, to issue directives in NABOO investigations, reassign cases at will, strip SAPO of its autonomy, and even shut down inquiries. The agencies impacted by the bill warned that it marks the end of their independence and will effectively destroy Ukraine's anti corruption infrastructure. Now, the public outrage is, well, difficult to overstate, with some protesters telling the Associated Press that the law represents a greater blow to morale than the Kremlin's nightly drone and missile attacks. One protester carried a sign reading quote, destroy Russians, not democracy while crowds chanted shame. Another protester told NBC News that the power grab is, quote, endangering the values of freedom and democracy in our country and the future of our children. Veterans of the Ukrainian military were also in the crowds with one wounded soldier telling the ap, quote, those who swore to protect the laws in the constitution have instead chosen to shield their inner circle even at the expense of Ukrainian democracy, end quote. Even high ranking officials in Kyiv are dissenting. While he did not directly criticize Zelensky, the head of Ukraine's military intelligence service issued a thinly veiled critique of the new law saying, quote, Ukrainian history has taught us that a nation loses if it's torn apart by internal contradictions, end quote. The bill has also thrown Ukraine's long running bid to join the European Union into question as the EU has made it clear that Kiev must implement and uphold strong anti graft measures if they wish to become a member state. Now Ukraine has long been considered one of the most corrupt countries in Europe and members of Zelenskyy's inner circle have regularly faced allegations of misconduct. The EU's Commissioner for Enlargement chimed in saying she was, quote, seriously concerned about the deliberate rollback of democratic reforms, calling it a quote, serious step back for Ukraine. Facing an internal crisis that is overshadowing fresh peace talks being held today in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine. Zeletsky has now gone into damage control mode. On Wednesday, he gathered the heads of the anti corruption agencies, the prosecutor general and law enforcement chiefs in an attempted show of unity. Seletsky is trying to frame the move as a wartime cleanup, blaming Russian infiltration and slow moving corruption cases for the intervention. But a major question remains. Why got the independence of the very agencies meant to hold power accountable? In a statement, Zelensky promised to strengthen the work of the anti corruption agencies saying, quote, we all hear what society is saying. He added, quote, we all share a common enemy, the Russian occupiers. And defending the Ukrainian state requires a strong enough law enforcement and anti corruption system, one that ensures a real sense of justice, end quote. Later in the day, as the backlash grew, Zelensky announced plans to introduce a new bill to parliament to address public concerns, saying the protests were not falling on deaf ears. While his language was vague. Zelensky said the new bill will, quote, ensure the strength of the rule of law system and include protections ensuring the independence of the anti corruption institutions. But the country remains skeptical. Just one day before enacting the controversial law, Ukrainian authorities raided both the Naboo and the sapo, arresting two employees on suspicion of links to Russia. Between the arrests and subsequent passage of the bill, critics for Zelenskyy is engaged in a brazen attempt to further concentrate power and shield Ukraine's most powerful figures from accountability. Given Russia's escalating aerial bombardments of Ukrainian cities and reports that they're gearing up for a broader assault, the domestic unrest, frankly couldn't come at a worse time for Zelenskyy. The crisis will not only serve as a potent propaganda tool for the Russians, but could jeopardize Western support for Kyiv's leadership. Now, one person that is undoubtedly delighted by Zelenskyy's decision to sign the bill that removes the independence of these two anti corruption agencies would be Vladimir Putin. This action feeds directly into Putin's long running narrative that Zelenskyy is an illegitimate leader of Ukraine. He stated repeatedly that Zelensky should step down, obviously because Putin wants a pro Kremlin leader to replace him. Frankly, this decision by Zelensky to sign the law rather than to veto it will likely prove to be the worst decision he's made since becoming president. All right, up next, China's Communist Party imposes an exit ban on a US Government employee and a US Corporate executive barring them from leaving China. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Now here's an important fact that you might have missed. July. And we are in. July is National Grilling Month. It's true. 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- [09:23]
Ryan Reynolds
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- [09:51]
Mint Mobile Representative
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Mike Baker
See mint mobile.com welcome back to the afternoon Bulletin. In another escalation of tensions with Washington, Beijing has imposed exit bans on a US Government employee and a US Corporate executive just weeks ahead of President Trump's August trade deadline with China. The State Department confirmed Monday that a U.S. patent and trademark Office employee traveling privately in China was barred from leaving the country by Chinese authorities. For those unfamiliar, exit bans are a legal tool wielded by the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP to prevent individuals often without charges or due process from departing the country, according to a State Department cable obtained by the New York Times. The man, a US citizen whose name has not been disclosed, has been barred from leaving since 14 April, when police confiscated his passport, his credit cards, phone and iPad. Though his belongings were returned eight days later, Chinese officials reportedly told him he could not return home. The incident surfaced just as Beijing confirmed that Mao Chunyuay, a Shanghai born US citizen and managing director at Wells Fargo is, is also facing exit restrictions. Mao, who oversees the bank's international factoring business from Atlanta, has been hit with criminal charges and barred from leaving China. At a press briefing this week, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Mao is, quote, involved in a criminal case currently being handled by Chinese law enforcement authorities and is, quote, subject to exit restrictions in accordance with the law. He added, quote, pursuant to Chinese laws, with the case still under investigation and Ms. Mao cannot leave the country for the time being and has an obligation to cooperate. Wells Fargo told CBS News it's, quote, closely tracking this situation and working through the appropriate channels so our employee can return to the US as soon as possible. The State Department, citing privacy concerns, declined to discuss Mao's status, but reiterated that, quote, the safety and security of American citizens remains its top priority. The latest bans come at a politically sensitive moment in US China relations. As we've discussed here on the PDP, President Trump has slapped tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese imports and given Beijing a hard deadline of 12 August to finalize a new trade deal or face steeper penalties. Though both sides reached a recent framework agreement to ease the steep tariffs, time is running out to nail down specifics. In the meantime, a 30% interim tariff remains in effect on China, intensifying economic pressure and heightening the risk for Americans operating or simply traveling to the country. The State Department has Long warned that U.S. citizens, especially those of Chinese descent, are vulnerable to opaque and arbitrary enforcement of CCP laws, including exit bans. According to its travel advisory, Americans are often unaware of such restrictions as until they attempt to leave, and there's typically no legal recourse within the Chinese court system. Now, whether these latest moves are retaliatory signals in response to Trump's trade offensive or part of a CCP broader internal crackdown, well, that remains unclear. And that, my friends, is the PDB Afternoon bulletin for Wednesday 23rd July. Now if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me@pdbhefirsttv.com and of course to listen to the show ad free. You know you can do that and you know you can do it simply just become a premium member of the President's Daily brief by visiting PDB premium.com. i'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.