Polls today to elect a new president among those closely watching is china and its relationship with the u. S. And perhaps with the world has changed significantly over the past 3 and a half years from its trade war with the u. S. To the dispute over who way and the face off economic Hub Hong Kong chinas export oriented economy has faced Turbulent Times now it wants a new direction the fate of which could depend heavily on who sits in the white house. Across the west chinas economic model is coming in for closer inspection. The long held notion that free trade would bring democratic reform and openness to Chinese Society is now largely perceived as fiction. Instead as chinas economy has strengthened so has beijings resolve to go its own way made evident with recent crackdowns and change on and hong kong. What happens in hong kong and you. Have remarkably little to economy consequences for the chinese Chinese Government at the school now its not just the u. S. Thats mulling a rebalance of its economic relationship with china yet no other country has taken more dramatic steps trumps trade war was a shock to the close relationship between the worlds 2 biggest economies to the pain of American Farmers and Small Businesses as well as the allies caught in the middle. But it also hit beijing hard before interim trade deal chinas economy was struggling its economic model suddenly vulnerable. The pandemic has given china an opportunity for a narrative reset to argue that its economy is surging back that the domestic economy can offset weaker exports that hong kong will remain vibrant. Chinas economy is indeed growing stronger but there are challenges the u. S. Still has the worlds reserve currency as well as increasingly like minded allies. More reason for china to watch what happens on tuesday. And for the rest of the world to of course spoke to a deaf ound and c. E. O. Of d. C. Bill and consulting and i asked him what chinas ambitions need for the u. S. Economy and its standing in the well its a big global competition and its going to remain so i think the you know the the most important point to bear in mind is that the u. S. Still does have some inherent strengths its still the safest investment in the world still see it here in the u. S. Still has the worlds reserve currency the the best concentration of Research Universities the Strongest Military etc but i think the thing thats most important for the United States now is soup lay to its inherent historic strength of working with partners and working with allies and thats something that china doesnt have china does not have an Alliance System its only ally in the world is north korea so if for example as in your setup piece. It alluded to the fact that theres going to be this separation this decoupling of the economies and that will continue but for the United States to continue to lead it will have to work with its allies in europe asia and around the world. And i was under a different deal Lynn Consulting talking to us earlier here with me in the studio now is due to be used china expert clifford coonan. So this is a big election today that everybody is watching whats beijing hoping will happening today well i think if you have to call it id say theyd be hoping for a joe biden win i think the chaos that has happened in the last 4 years as i actually played to beijings advantage. But at the same time theyve also been suffering from the trade war and i think overall they would be hoping for a return to the way things were. Biden was after all part of an Obama Administration but believe in gauge with china would create a responsible stakeholder. That didnt happen so when trump came in you know for all the flood bluster and chaos that he created he did he did take china so i think theyll be looking for for a return to about how before though we not quite sure whether there would be a return to what happened before also were not sure biden wins what happened to china and its a strategy if trump was reelected well i think if trump is reelected i think we can expect more of the same probably but i think hope maybe happen in a more considered way china doesnt use the last 4 years of chaos created by trying to make many friends as we heard in the new period it hasnt won many friends around the world even you know willing partners like germany for example have really. Havent really played ball you know havent really sort of gotten on board with china or theyre asking questions i should jiang about hong kong its its no its no longer a case you can just make money in china and avoid all the other stuff now you have to sort of take these things on board so i think as you say its not sure whether biden will win. And biden could and looks very likely actually to be quite tough on china should he win going on what hes been saying during the campaign so i think ultimately the means they will hope for a biden win at klif is going on there from a business china expected thinks so much. Why not some of the other Global Business stories making news all prices have fallen to 5 months lowest coronavirus lockdowns go into effect across europe fear is that more lock downs will slow Economic Growth and that demand for oil will plummet on Companies Like b. P. And shell health laid off thousands in the wake of the pandemic. Australias central bank has cut Interest Rates to a historic low of point one percent the reserve bank of australia is trying to lift the economy out of a covert 900. 00. Bank has also ramped up a bond buying to lift australia out of its worst downturn in a generation. Deutsche bank wants to end its relationship with donald trump after the us election loss of ties to all the tires of the negative publicity stemming from the ties or going to see this knowledge of the matter germanys largest bank has about 340000000. 00 in loans outstanding to businesses and. Adventurers looking to scale net pauls himalayan peaks and its mountain trails they can finally do so again for the 1st time in 7 months the paul had closed its borders due to the coronavirus pandemic now theyre open again not a day too soon for the countrys crucial Tourism Industry. The trail snaking through the himalayas are still deserted Mountain Guides and sherpas in katmandu have nothing to do but theyre excited about the news that the country is reopening to backpackers and tourists. Grocery variable colibri where theres a were all happy that well be back in our job soon though. The last few months have been financially difficult and mentally torturous for us. Now we are finally back in our jobs you know. But because of the pandemic only a very few tourists are expected to come. Visit. Those who want to come are required to take a coronavirus test before leaving their home country and stay for a week in quarantine at a hotel and do. And then take another test before theyre allowed to go hiking. The government is trying to scale down expectations that tourism will be back to normal soon as it tries to balance economic and Health Concerns during the pandemic. To put it in the cellar got to be a little less political and the government has not opened the continent for all tourists often but only to a section of visitors who we know we are able to control and manage some of. This on the open. Last year tourism brought in more than 2000000000. 00 to nepal the industry employs a 1000000 people from porters to pilots. They see the reopening of the country as a hopeful shimmer in the sky. And the German Federal court is due to rule on a major european Infrastructure Project the same on belt tunnel a direct connection between denmark and germany funded by the e. U. The plants tunnel has enraged environmentalists andras didnt sell the islands off who fear the construction work will scare away tourists. A ferry is still the only connection between the german either defi mon and denmark at the moment a trip across the baltic takes around 45 minutes the planned tunnel would shorten the travel time to 10 minutes great news for drivers but for the private Ferry Company its a threat to their livelihood. Scan klines is going to court suing the tunnel project for unfair trade practices. Because the for my our main grievances the use of you money to build the tunnel. We demand transparency. Its wrong that the project received unlimited state sponsored subsidies without any child limits imposed. The case that. The project is set to cost more than 7000000000. 00 euros denmark wants it done fast and has already began building very end of the tunnel. The largest working toward in europe is being built off the coast of the island of lowland and should be completed by the end of next year. On the land the groundwork for a jag. Antic factory is underway this is where the concrete elements for the tunnel will be produced in the future. It will be the worlds longest emersed tunnel with 18 kilometers of train tracks and a 4 lane highway. By building disconnection we can actually save a significant amount of time and fuel c o 2 emissions by connecting to industrial ha plans together with retrofitting that is also why i support the project. But resistance is building up on the german side environmental activists fear that large areas of the environmentally compromised baltic sea would be just roit by the ton. And the Tourism Industry on the vacation island of fame on this concerned as well years Long Construction could scare away visitors. Who would of course push to expect a 9 to 10 percent drop in tourism because of the huge construction site experts have done several studies and thats something we have a lot of respect for. Connecting the tunnel to germanys rail and road network is being hotly debated around 800000000 girls have been earmarked to do just that but experts say it will cost much more. And thats a business update. Check out dot com slash business social media for me in the team of thanks for watching. Combating the corona pandemic. Where does research stand. What are scientists learning. Background information and news. Hour carona updates. From the covert 19 special next on d w. I was issued when i arrived here i slept with 6 people in a room. It was hard i was fair. I even got white hair is that. The german language head. This gives me a little but you need to instruct the face you want to know their story. Its her fighting and reliable information for margaret. Herd immunity. Its usually achieved with a vaccine like for polio but in the fight against covered some countries gambled on natural herd immunity they allowed infection to spread claiming it would minimize hum and protect the economy. Most Scientists Say its dangerous and may not even walk. It also reinforces to me just how morally unconscious unquenchable and unfeasible the socalled natural heart he meant her team unity strategy is not only would it lead to millions more unnecessary does it would also lead to a significant number of people facing a long road to full recovery. And its the most fun brickell whod be hardest hit. You may remember the footage of mass graves in menow spears ill the false promise of herd immunity or is there some truth to the strategy well talk to our science correspondent about it in a moment to an expert 1st the even more important question of how long a minute he actually lasts. As the covert 19 pandemic took hold scientists knew a vaccine would be the best protection against the virus but there was still the hope that those recovering would be immune as in the case of viruses like smallpox or polio when a 33 year old man in hong kong tested positive for a 2nd time those hopes were dealt a blow. Some people might ask. Forever after you recover. Before but now its after your 1st infection theres always a chance youll get infected again. In their Research Paper the team at the university of hong kong says the 2nd infection was a different strain of the virus and that the patient was asymptomatic the study examines how often people whove had 19 are immune to new infections and for how long these questions have implications for Vaccine Development and decisions about returning to work school and social activities as many countries in europe and around the world went into lockdown earlier this year sweden went against the tide opting not to confine its population schools and restaurants remained open in the hope that infected people would become immune allowing them to continue their lives as normal and ultimately slowing the spread of the virus. Swedens infection rate and death per 1000000 was soon among the worst in europe and yet testing showed the country still fell a long way short of the infection rate which would create herd immunity. The w. H. O. Says that until the world has readily available vaccines the virus will continue to inflict significant changes on our lives. As a planet as a global population or close to their levels of immunity required to stop this disease. And we need to focus on what we can actually do not to suppress transmission and not live in whole herd immunity been our salvation right now that is not a solution d and its not a solution we should be looking to for. And the immunity picture is looking increasingly complicated in the southern german town of bad find a study by germanys robert costa institute found that 40 percent of participants who had tested positive for the corona virus before the study began no longer had immune aglow binjie antibodies the most common type of antibody. The Robert Koch Institute is already conducting several regional studies as researchers around the world continue their work to create viable vaccines. Lets have a look at your questions now from our you tube channel is derek williams. What are the risks of the focused protection of price point out in the Great Barrington declaration. Since the very earliest days of this pandemic there have been those who believe that our responses to covert 19 so the lock downs and all the other measures that they have actually caused more damage than the disease itself and they believe that we need to look for other options. Even without access to a vaccine since really wide scale infection would be at least theoretically a pathway to what we want which is herd immunity the concepts laid out in the highly controversial declaration that you mention was proposed several weeks ago by 3 scientists from the u. S. And britain and its been signed by others it says that we need to only focus on protecting groups that it classifies as vulnerable especially the elderly and that urges a return to normal life immediately for everyone else that means basically not trying to limit infections among those that it says are at minimal risk of death so what would be the dangers of going down that path there are some pretty major ones in the big flaw in the declarations reasoning a lot of experts say is the fundamental assumption that that people who appear to gain at least some immunity after surviving that disease will keep that immunity for extended periods weve already seen some cases of people who have gotten coated 19 a 2nd time though those so far theyve thankfully been few and far between them still the coming months could see many many more another big question how exactly would you go about protecting vulnerable populations effectively in societies where the virus is basically raging unchecked is that even possible and in aspects that the declaration doesnt address at all is the potential long term damage that covert 19 could do to many younger people even those who survive then of course at least some people who arent classified as. Vulnerable will turn out to be very vulnerable to cope in 1000 after all and theyll die from it potentially even millions of people worldwide and people who wouldnt have died if social distancing measures remained in force until effective vaccines are available. Lets talk more about immunity with Valentino Gallo shes a neuro epidemiologist at the university of corning in the netherlands whats your take on the Great Barrington declaration. Right dan thank you very much for the invite so 1st of all i think the declaration. Is pointing towards there is scientific debate which is not entirely that in fact its about a few scientists coming from a very prestigious. Organization that have put forth these idea claiming that there is a divide between scientists but its just that they are. Against the rest of the scientists which are more compact suggesting different types of approaches to detonate to the situation of we called it. In addition to these so they can they claim that they motivate these with a factor that downs with it will bring a lot of sunshine inequalities and willing creases you know what it is in completion however the way they suggest to handle these are so the focus protection to only increase even more of these social inequalities if this is not coupled with really a funding for protecting people who need to be shielded so if people from the poorest state of their population have to schildt because they suffer from some commodity for example or because they. Are over a certain age but they cant because they need to choose between you know wanting their job and show think peace is not every are ups and and it will increase even more to the bites within populations we were seeing pictures there of manasse in brazil where it went terribly wrong and you mention the word protecting from from what ive read should we use the term protection rather than herd immunity i mean thats quite important isnt it. It is very important its a subtle distinction but important and its the way scientists communicate with the rest of the war to so we use a herd immunity for saying that when a proportion of the population is actively mune from a condition than the rest of the population are prevented to get the condition from a normal social to social contact but in fact theyre not you know but theyre protected because they are they are still vulnerable protected by the fact that the other people are. And whats happenin