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Quarantine woes, Brexit's last dance, vaccine diplomacy, and where to next for Australia-China relations
This week on GeoPod, Tenjin Consulting's Alexander Downer tells Georgina Downer how he is coping with two weeks in hotel quarantine. The answer: not well!
On to Brexit, where the UK and EU are in the final (yes really final this time) stages of negotiating a trade agreement. Alexander expects a deal, but Boris Johnson is still leaving the prospect of "no deal" on the table. We will know in a matter of days...surely?
While we may have reached the end of the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic with approvals coming thick and fast for vaccines, arguably the even bigger challenge will be distributing the vaccines around the world. Some of the vaccines will require transportation at extremely low temperatures, making distribution to lower income countries nigh on impossible. The other issue remains the take up of vaccines. Which vaccine will you trust, if you trust any? The Russian Sputnik V, China's Sinovac? Transparency, robustness of regulatory regimes and the approvals process will be playing on people's minds. Without a vaccine there is no end in sight to the pandemic, but making people take it may be just as hard as getting it to them.
Finally, Australia's China woes continue. Allies are rallying around Australia but some are benefitting from the trade tensions, including Canada and the US which compete with Australia for the Chinese export dollar. Do values trump dollars? A strong and coordinated response to China's aggressive behaviour will rely on liberal democracies prioritising free societies and a rules based order over a strong economic balance sheet. Something to watch, especially the response from the incoming-Biden Administration.
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By Tenjin ConsultingThis week on GeoPod, Tenjin Consulting's Alexander Downer tells Georgina Downer how he is coping with two weeks in hotel quarantine. The answer: not well!
On to Brexit, where the UK and EU are in the final (yes really final this time) stages of negotiating a trade agreement. Alexander expects a deal, but Boris Johnson is still leaving the prospect of "no deal" on the table. We will know in a matter of days...surely?
While we may have reached the end of the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic with approvals coming thick and fast for vaccines, arguably the even bigger challenge will be distributing the vaccines around the world. Some of the vaccines will require transportation at extremely low temperatures, making distribution to lower income countries nigh on impossible. The other issue remains the take up of vaccines. Which vaccine will you trust, if you trust any? The Russian Sputnik V, China's Sinovac? Transparency, robustness of regulatory regimes and the approvals process will be playing on people's minds. Without a vaccine there is no end in sight to the pandemic, but making people take it may be just as hard as getting it to them.
Finally, Australia's China woes continue. Allies are rallying around Australia but some are benefitting from the trade tensions, including Canada and the US which compete with Australia for the Chinese export dollar. Do values trump dollars? A strong and coordinated response to China's aggressive behaviour will rely on liberal democracies prioritising free societies and a rules based order over a strong economic balance sheet. Something to watch, especially the response from the incoming-Biden Administration.