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If you're not in the U.S., what's up in your part of the world?
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by
Scout
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Aug 19, 2020 09:25PM
Discussions seem to be focused on the U.S. here, maybe because there are more of us in the group, or we're just hogging the spotlight. What's going on in your part of the world outside the U.S.? In NZ, Australia, Israel? -- Russia? China? (I wish.) Anything we can discuss?
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UK - lots of US coverage but..COVID-19 - comparison on progress and concern for other countries
Exam grading issues (school exams were cancelled)
Brexit trade deal negotiations with EU
Weather (flooding and gales)
Space satellite issues
Hong Kong and other overseas issues
Australia:Much COVID coverage, due to the ongoing lockdown in Victoria and sneaky cases in NSW.
Trade wars with China.
Cancellation of interschool sport in NSW, along with year twelve formals etc.
Continuing issues with state border closures.
A blast of wintry weather across SE Australia, (potentially snow down to 500m - this is astounding here) while the first fire of the new fire season is burning in northern NSW.
Lots of US election coverage.
Coverage of the COVID outbreak in NZ.
Ongoing footy seasons, and the beginning of a COVID bubble cricket tour in the UK.
For Israel: - a lasting deep political crisis,
- a prime minister dealing with 3 running indictments;
- new deal with UAE and how without that - a supposedly hidden part: sale of advanced US armaments to the sheikh as an incentive for peace;
- tensions in North and South, somebody attacking us, attacking somebody back;
- second wave of corona still gaining momentum;
Pretty much business as usual :)
Specifically, regarding my neighborhood - should stuff the fridge with bottles of mineral water to pass around for both police and protesters towards the announced demonstration later tonight
For NZ:- We have an election, originally proposed for Sept., now deferred to October on the grounds that the smaller opposition parties complained (quite rightly) they could not campaign during a government imposed lockdown in Auckland. Incessant bombardment through social media with political messages.
- The lockdown, thanks to a leak at the border. It is becoming apparent that while the idea was good, the implementation of border controls was less than adequate. People supposedly doing something weren't.
- The economy, after lockdown. Costs of lockdown, etc.
- What rugby can be played, given Aucklanders cannot travel
- Can the cricket games go ahead when summer eventually arrives?
- Weird weather. Some places are getting temperatures 10 degrees C higher than usual, while others are getting subantarctic winds, but for them the snow is of no use because few skiers.
- Trade - US vs China with us as meat in sandwich
- US election.
Not a very knowledgeable dude in his area of responsibility. The less you know the better you sleep :)
Interestingly, our 6 pm news on TV for the last 3 or 4 nights has a different clip each night of President Trump saying something to the effect that NZ has the worst outbreak of the virus ever - much worse than the US - so you all now know what a disastrous state of affairs it is around here.
It's probably because elections are in the air in your country too
Leonie wrote: "Australia:Much COVID coverage, due to the ongoing lockdown in Victoria and sneaky cases in NSW.
Trade wars with China.
Cancellation of interschool sport in NSW, along with year twelve formals etc..."
Leonie covered it here, but Melbourne (my home town) is a ghost town at the moment under deep lock down.
I have to admit, it's starting to wear thin...
I just tell myself, "Suck it up, princess!"
Good to see the curve dropping, though Graeme! Hopefully the downward trajectory will continue.
Ian wrote: "Interestingly, our 6 pm news on TV for the last 3 or 4 nights has a different clip each night of President Trump saying something to the effect that NZ has the worst outbreak of the virus ever - mu..."We've seen that here too. There seems to be just a little bit of lack of understanding in his comments.
Leonie wrote: "Good to see the curve dropping, though Graeme! Hopefully the downward trajectory will continue."Indeed, Leonie. We're past the 2 week lag of action to effect.
Hopefully, this all works and we can emerge from hibernation in a few more weeks.
Nik wrote: "It's probably because elections are in the air in your country too"There is no doubt about it. Politicians are crawling over each other trying to get people to "vote for me!" Or even "Notice me!"
Philip, sorry I didn't realize you're in the UK. My good friend's late husband was a Brit, such a great sense of play and humor. I'd like to know more about Brexit trade deal negotiations, space satellite and Hong Kong issues.
Is it that the virus has sidelined Brexit as a news item, or as an activity? Is anything happening there?
Mostly sidelined by COVID and its impact on all aspects of life.Brexit tales - continuing disagreement between EU and UK over
Fishing rights - access to UK waters
Legal process - role of ECJ
Etc
hhttps://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bri...
Space satellite - not a great source...
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/...
Honk Kong
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia...
Philip, I see in the link the EU is concern ed about state aid. What is that about in terms of Brexit?
EU has strict rules on state aid to industry and therefore want UK to abide by EU rules so that UK companies don't have an advantage when competing with EU companies. In other words (not just on this issue) EU negotiating position is that UK should abide by all EU rules (and courts) although not in EU. This is in exchange for access to EU markets without tariffs whilst forgetting that EU exports more to UK than UK does to EUBasically EU is still fighting Brexit decision and negotiating accordingly in the hope UK will still retract and leave in name only.
My guess, then, is that Johnson/Cummings won't fold, and we shall have the no-deal scenario. I have no idea what the state aid rules are, but the UK cannot be expected to abide by all EU laws once they have left - merely those they agree to.
Philippines- COVID-19 cases are rising continuously everyday, which is very alarming.
- The Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education are still pushing the implementation of distance learning, considering that our country continues to have one of the slowest internet connection speeds across the Asia Pacific. Also, not everyone can afford to buy smartphones and laptops because almost 45% of the people here lost their job because of COVID-19.
- The feared Anti-Terrorism Bill is taking effect right now.
- Corruption on some government agencies were revealed by whistle blowers.
- Dispute on the West Philippine Sea (between Philippines and China)
Ranne wrote: "Philippines- COVID-19 cases are rising continuously everyday, which is very alarming.
- The Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education are still pushing the implementation of dist..."
45% job loss! That's incredibly devastating, Ranne! And increasing case numbers too...
It really is, Leonie. It was because the small businesses here went bankrupt and were forced to shutdown. And some of those who lost their job got no other choice but to go out to the street and beg for a coin or two in order to buy foods to feed their family. The sad thing about it was, the presidential spokesperson were glad and surprised that only 45% of the Filipino have lost their jobs. It could have been worse so we're still blessed, according to him. That kind of optimism is so obnoxious.
Wonder whether we'd hear "the life is awesome, nothing to report" from any corner of the globe?
NZ is probably doing as well as any country, and there is plenty to report, as accusations are flying in all directions. Of course there is an election coming, and that encourages the politicians to provide reports that life is anything but awesome.However, here if 45% lose their jobs there would be a terrible outcry. That is awful. To illustrate, in the trough (1933) of the great depression unemployment was 12% here, although wages were slashed by about 20%.
Some issues are worldwide with similarities between countries; others are more specific to that country.I noticed though no on mentioned race or immigrants. Are those strictly US situations?
In NZ, because of our isolation, we don't have a border issue. You need a fairly sound boat to get across the Tasman because the storms there are serious, and also Australia is in the way, and illegals are more likely to try there - closer and bigger coastline. As for legal immigrants, right now we have closed our borders, mainly because our quarantine efforts are strained enough as they are with Kiwis coming home, but I believe immigration will return sooner or later.Race is an interesting issue here. The Maori claim special rights under the Treaty of Waitangi, which the Crown signed to permit colonization. The problems are (a) it is rather broadly written and could mean a lot of different things, (b) there are two versions (one Engish, one Maori) but they don't mean the same thing, and (c) Maori claim properly that the Crown did not keep its side (overlooking the fact they went to war, an act which cancels any treaty). There is now a "reparations" industry since the government has decided to allow it to try to get this history off the scenario, and get the Maori into better economic situations.
Unfortunately, this hasn't exactly worked universally. A couple of the first two tribes to settle have done very nicely, thank you, but many of the other tribes haven't. The biggest one is engaged in internal fights as to who can negotiate, and who gets what.
As a final point, Maori are greatly over-represented in the prison population, but that in part is due to their tribal desire to join gangs that have drug dealing as a major activity. They are over-represented in jail because they have been arrested for drug running.
In UK immigration remains an issue primarily due to refugees attempting to cross the Channel from France to claim asylum in UK. These are mostly Afghan, Syrian or African refugees. Not claiming in France, Spain, Italy etc (first point of safety according to UN charter) is the issue which despite their horrific tales of suffering makes them appear as economic migrants.
We also have racial issues here in Australia. Our indigenous Australians are over represented in the prison community and also in lower socio-economic categories. In addition, there has been dispossession, a stolen generation, and a pile of other issues.We have had some progress. There has been a national apology, and Sorry Day is observed annually. (https://www.reconciliation.org.au/nat...) There was a landmark land rights decision, known as the Mabo Decision, which in some cases has empowered our indigenous Australians.
However, in some areas, there continues to be significant issues of equality. I've worked in remote Australia, and it's confronting. There is a long way to go.
We also have a poor (in my opinion) record on refugees. It's a divisive issue here like it is in many other places. However, our government's island solution and detention practices have been cruel. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has some, interesting information. https://www.asrc.org.au
Like New Zealand, people have to be pretty determined to come here via boat, due to the fact we're an island. Having said that, the majority of our 'illegal' immigrants come via an aeroplane.
You guys in Australia, UK, Philippines, and NZ have mentioned China or Hong Kong as problems. Can you expand on that? We in the U S have our problems with them, but I'd like your take on the problems as you see them.
China is difficult for NZ. It is our biggest trading partner at present, but it has real problems. I have a view that probably differs from most here because my daughter-in-law has a family in Yew-Yang, and did a degree in law at Beijing University. She left because as she explained to me, law in China is what the party decides. Take a case to court and the Party will tell the judge what to decide, or at least that is what lawyers think.NZ is mainly engaged in trade - that is the only real major agenda with China. I am associated with a company that makes skin gels, and we have deliberately avoided China because we do not believe they have any chance of honouring intellectual property or contracts if they can get around them. I don't know if that is true, but I am a Director of the company, and my vote goes to avoiding China. This is a big difference between where we normally go - Western countries because the law is a means of defence. On this aspect of trade, I am with Trump. Whether he is going about fixing it the right way is debatable, but he most definitely is right on the nature of the problem.
Here is an example of a problem a major NZ company met. Our biggest dairy company, Fonterra, wanted to export baby milk products. After they got sp many sales they were told they had to have a Chinese base and use some Chinese milk. OK, they built a factory and arranged for some Chinese farmers to supply milk, but the factory had to be run by Chinese. OK, they trained them up and put in place our standard testing procedures, etc, and all went well until - - - some group of Chinese "farmers" supplied an aqueous dispersion of acrylamide which had all the obvious appearance and properties of milk. Chinese babies died all over the place, and the company was fined. Mind you, I would not like to be one of the Chinese "suppliers". On a matter like this, the Party is unlikely to have done anything but the standard penalty for murder, and they are not soft-hearted.
Australia also has huge trade ties with China, but currently we are not close to political happiness with China. There is a trade war, and some angry exchanges regarding COVID. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-3...Hong Kong is also complicated due to the current political unrest. Officially, it's 'One country two systems' but China has recently cracked down heavily on Hong Kong residents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_cou...
China claiming that the West Philippines Sea is theirs, based on their so-called "historical rights" and their nine-dash line rule. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri...
The Philippines filed a diplomatic protest in the international court. The outcome was in favor of the Philippines but China refused to participate in the arbitration and ignored the outcome.
https://thediplomat.com/2016/07/inter...
Even after we won the case, China continued to claim West PH Sea and bullied our fishermen and coast guards.
https://www.imoa.ph/chinese-coast-gua...
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/20...
Now, China build research facilities in the West PH Sea. And still bullying our fishermen and coast guards as well. The PH government filed again a diplomatic protest against China. But China warned us in return.
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/20...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...
Historical rights are ridiculous. Iran should be Greek, Israel Roman, etc. The problem with Chinese rights is that as with my comment on law, they tend to be (in China's eyes) what the party says they are.
I also should have mentioned that many Australians (including us) have travelled to/transited through Hong Kong. There is also a large group of Australians whose ancestry is Chinese, some with family ties in either Hong Kong or mainland China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese...
Ian,You amaze me. I would have never though that you could be critical of China and their policies. BTW, all of the mentions about Chinese dealing with business is why I avoid Chinese products as much as I can.
Ian wrote: "Historical rights are ridiculous. Iran should be Greek, Israel Roman, etc. The problem with Chinese rights is that as with my comment on law, they tend to be (in China's eyes) what the party says t..."They are playing a different game. They are trying to extend their power base. Let us see them move the American Navy. It is easy to bully people that cannot fight back.
BTW, a warning from China has about much impact me warning my grown son that I will ground him if he does not shape up. China warns the United States all of the time and we ignore them just as much.
China has no hope of moving the US navy - only Washington can do that. My guess is China will keep making small irritating prods here and there, and another guess is they haven't planned anything because they just want to try out and see what they can get. I am not so sure about the power base as opposed to the major oilfield that is supposed to be in the Sth China Sea. But the Chinese also play a long game, and Xi will not want to mess up his future options so unless something goes out of hand, I think China will back away.
Papaphilly wrote: "Ian,You amaze me. I would have never though that you could be critical of China and their policies. BTW, all of the mentions about Chinese dealing with business is why I avoid Chinese products as..."
Pleased to have brightened up your day :-)
Chinese extending their power base sounds about right. That’s exactly what they’re doing in Hong Kong.
Hong Kong will be a particularly difficult issue for Beijing. Now it is part of China, but they went along with it having an independent system because they want to maintain trading privileges with the West, which can be made beneficial to China. However, they cannot tolerate the protests, etc, migrating to the mainland China. If the Hong Kong authorities can get these protests back under control and if the West continues with their previous trade relationships, all will be sweet. If either fail, then so will the agreement that permits Hong Kong to be different from China.
Philip wrote: "Germanyhttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-euro..."
May well be true, but "unequivocal proof" should at least name the agent.
Interesting to hear about how China is treating you guys. I gather from some of the comments that U.S. strength deters China in some instances. I'm, as you'll know from other threads, in favor of U.S. maintaining a strong military. I heard today, though, that China is concentrating much of its resources on building a strong military. Heard anything about that?
I saw one report where China is most definitely building up its military, including building more ships and anti-aircraft missiles. I just hope that there is no miscalculation by anyone.
Scout wrote: "Interesting to hear about how China is treating you guys. I gather from some of the comments that U.S. strength deters China in some instances. I'm, as you'll know from other threads, in favor of U..."China is on track to surpass US military spending in the 2030's.
At some point in the next twenty years they will attack your pacific fleet in the Eastern Pacific.
They will sink, one or two carriers, killing 10K+ sailors. Most likely they will take out a number of other ships at the same time. They will attack the base on Guam to destroy it. They will retake Taiwan. Japan and South Korea will have to fend for themselves.
Prior to this, they will dump US treasuries to mess with the US financial system.
Their objective will be to give the US a bloody nose and force you back to the western pacific without giving the US sufficient cause to go nuclear.
The east pacific will become a Chinese dominion.
Ian wrote: "China has no hope of moving the US navy - only Washington can do that. My guess is China will keep making small irritating prods here and there, and another guess is they haven't planned anything b..."The Chinese are explicitly intent on removing the US Navy.
"While China would aim most of its rockets at targets on land, the DF-21D and the DF-26 in theory are capable of hitting ships at sea. “Carrier-killers,” the Americans call them."
REF: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe...
When you add the cost of the aircraft, etc, A US aircraft carrier is a $7B system with 5000+ souls on board.
If you can't protect it, it's a high value target.
"A leading Chinese general has urged the military to use force to block U.S. ships from traversing waters claimed by Beijing in the South China Sea and retake Taiwan.
Senior Colonel Dai Xu, who serves as the president of the country's Marine Institute for Security and Cooperation, on Saturday lashed out against inaction over repeated U.S. Navy trips through disputed territory in the South China Sea, much of which is claimed by Beijing. Speaking at a conference organized by the ruling Communist Party's official newspaper The Global Times, Dai said that China should attack ships that violate its maritime claims."
REF: https://www.newsweek.com/chinese-gene...
Chinese generals are going public on the topic of fighting and winning vs the US.
Chinese 5th generation fighters.REF 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengdu...
REF 2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shenyan...
The Thousand Talents plan:"The Thousand Talents Plan (TTP) (Chinese: 千人计划; pinyin: Qiān rén jìhuà) or Thousand Talents Program (Chinese: 海外高层次人才引进计划; pinyin: Hǎiwài gāo céngcì réncái yǐnjìn jìhuà) was established in 2008 by the central government of China to recognize and recruit leading international experts in scientific research, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Both the United States and Canada have warned that China intends to use scientists who are involved with this plan to gain access to new technology for economic and military advantage."
REF: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousan...
Primarily a means to acquire Western industrial and military IP for the benefit of the CCP.
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