For help, advice and discussion about stuff not related to aviation. Play nice: no religion, no politics and no axe grinding please.
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By mick w
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1853306
Sooty25 wrote:China Crisis.

Am I the only one with the song "Black man ray" going through through their head every time this thread rises?

Aye , my post on page 2 , for another one :wink:
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By Sooty25
#1853418
mick w wrote:
Sooty25 wrote:China Crisis.

Am I the only one with the song "Black man ray" going through through their head every time this thread rises?

Aye , my post on page 2 , for another one :wink:


Completely missed that! :lol: what an appropriate title!

Did see them perform a couple of years ago at an 80's festival. A mate and I go to one every year, it's our "jolly boys outing". They still had it, although a few of the old acts certainly don't!
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By eltonioni
#1893113
Hands up if this is a surprise. What's that... nobody? Well beggar me red and white, who'd have thunked it.

Leading British and US scientists thought it was likely that Covid accidentally leaked from a laboratory but were concerned that further debate would harm science in China, emails show.

An email from Sir Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, on February 2 2020 said that “a likely explanation” was that Covid had rapidly evolved from a Sars-like virus inside human tissue in a low-security lab.

The email, to Dr Anthony Fauci and Dr Francis Collins of the US National Institutes of Health, went on to say that such evolution may have “accidentally created a virus primed for rapid transmission between humans”.

But a leading scientist told Sir Jeremy that “further debate would do unnecessary harm to science in general and science in China in particular”. Dr Collins, the former director of the US National Institutes of Health, warned it could damage “international harmony”.


There's a financial scandal brewing too, with George Osborne at the heart of it, setting up a Chinese controlled alternative to the World Bank using billions of UK government cash. Who'd have thunked that either‽

Seems that we're actually paying for our hostile takeover with both blood and treasure.
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By eltonioni
#1936704
Security Minister Tom Tugendhat has just confirmed that HMG "will be looking to close" Confucius Institutes in the UK.

That's a brave move and probably not before time but that's a lot of money (and influence and IP theft) about to disappear from red brick unis.
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By eltonioni
#1951892
That's one way to do it. :)

Image
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By kanga
#1957247
A contact has sent me a link (with read permission through the paywall for a few days) to a recent Economist article on the AUKUS SSN deal and wider AUS/UK/US military cooperation in the offing. Obviously it's copyright, so it would be improper to share it in full, but the title is: "The alliance between Australia, Britain and America is seriously ambitious"
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By skydriller
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1957260
kanga wrote:The alliance between Australia, Britain and America is seriously ambitious


Depending upon your viewpoint, its either an example of good forward thinking, or something that should have happened 10 or 20 yrs ago...
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By kanga
#1962168
Western Australia Premier visiting China, keener on promoting his State's mineral exports than supporting Federal government's security concerns

"Why Mark McGowan's visit to China highlights weaknesses in Western Australia's economy"

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-22/ ... /102251888
By EdwardG
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1962320
kanga wrote:Western Australia Premier visiting China, keener on promoting his State's mineral exports than supporting Federal government's security concerns

"Why Mark McGowan's visit to China highlights weaknesses in Western Australia's economy"

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-22/ ... /102251888


In fact, the new(ish) Federal Government are also pretty keen on building ties with China. One of the PM's first acts in office was to visit China and claim to have secured a deal with Xi to reverse the almost-certainly-unjustified tarriffs on wine and other commodities imported from here. He was conspicuously silent on what Australia had to give in return...

...and, to the best of my knowledge, the tariffs remain.
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By kanga
#1962333
Australian Federal trade policy nuanced, but diplomatic and military postures and planning seem to be turning warier towards China

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-65370284

"Australian defence review plots pivot from armour to missiles"

More detail in an Australian account:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-24/ ... /102258676

"Defence force shifts posture to ready Australia for 'missile age', and combat threats further from shore"

.. while commentators obliquely suggest that US alliance cannot necessarily be relied on as much as previously assumed (Trump era legacy ? :? ):

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-24/ ... /102258086

"Australia to accelerate missile build-up as defence industry anxiously awaits review recommendations"

'..The ABC understands regional concerns such as the increasing use of grey-zone warfare, the challenges presented by climate change and risks to the US alliance are also canvassed, while certain assessments on China will remain only in the classified version...'
By johnm
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#1962334
IMHO the EU and UK need to reduce economic dependence on China and Russia and indeed India, Australia and others would be wise to do the same. That's not the same as stopping trading it just means we have other less risky sources of material and products which we maintain.

From a defence point of view EU/NATO is the best hope for the moment and working on defence systems and limiting technology available to China Russia and India would be a very good idea, it won't solve the problem long term, but it will buy time.
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By EdwardG
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1962436
@Kanga Yes, there was quite a bit of rhetoric about it on the ABC news last night. Some discussion on funding the new capabilities. No mention (yet?) of additional funds but strong mention of cutting other capabilities including armoured vehicles and logistics capability. Fiscal logic, yes; real military logic less clear.

@Johnm Australia has been given many warnings about its economic dependence on China with new tariffs being introdced on a range of Australian goods every time the Australian Government has the temierity to criticise China. Sadly, neither the Australian Governement (in particular, the Western Australian Govt) nor many Australian indistries have shown much inclination to seek new markets for our exports or to reduce our cravings for chinese imports.
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By eltonioni
#1984185
This is a really odd bit of sabre rattling.

If the Chinese have learned only one thing from the Russia's invasion of Ukraine it must be that this is a display of military underwater reefs and fish food.