Great power competition in the Asia-Pacific region has been building for years. But COVID-19 has turbo-charged the shifts taking place and China is finishing 2020 in a significantly stronger position compared with the US than when the year started.
Meanwhile, Canberra’s relations with Beijing continue to deteriorate and there’s little reason to be optimistic that a sudden, positive turnaround will be seen in 2021.
As competition rather than cooperation has become the dominant frame through which both Beijing and Washington view their bilateral relationship, each is increasingly sensitive to evidence that other countries in the Asia-Pacific region are supporting their opponent.
CT doctor: Pandemic shares similarities with AIDS epidemic
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Medical Director Dr. David Rubin stsands in one of the examination rooms at Circle Care Center in Norwalk.Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticut Media
NORWALK In the early 1980s, Dr. David Rubin was a second-year medical student at Cornell Medical College in New York City. He was taking a course on physical diagnosis when the class was presented with a new case: A patient with a seemingly rare cancer which presented with lesions on the face, body and organs.
That “cancer” turned out to be one of the early cases of AIDS.
Australia s amateurish China diplomacy sets business on edge
17 Dec, 2020 03:28 AM
6 minutes to read
The Chinese embassy in Canberra. Photo / Getty Images
Financial Times
By: Jamie Smyth This week marks the fifth anniversary of the China-Australia free trade deal, a diplomatic triumph that has boosted trade by A$100 billion ($106.4b) a year. But no one is celebrating in Canberra amid a breakdown in bilateral relations, which has sparked a rare debate about Australian diplomacy.
Foreign policy is characterised by bipartisan agreement between Labor and the conservative government, which has held power since 2013. But Prime Minister Scott Morrison s furious reaction to a tweet by a Chinese diplomat and Beijing s imposition of trade sanctions on Australian products have caused disquiet about the handling of China relations.
China debate borrows language from Cold War miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.