The US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) remains undeveloped in key areas and faces uncertainty about its future as the 2024 US presidential election looms. The durability of the IPEF heavily relies on significant work to be done on other pillars, including trade, clean and fair economy pillars, amid concerns about future US engagement and the Continue reading »
World
I see humanity as at the mouth of a very long, very dark tunnel. And right at the end of that tunnel, there’s a little star that’s hope. And it’s no good sitting at the mouth of the tunnel folding our arms and hoping that the star will come. I travel around the world 300 Continue reading »
In February PETA sprang into action to rescue a pigeon held in India which had been accused of spying for China. They secured its release. In March five pairs of socks were found in a factory in Malaysia with the word ‘Allah’ printed on them. A team of 40 policemen carried out checks at the Continue reading »
The whole world is experiencing an “escalation to extremes” because we imitate each other to a profound degree. We should choose our models more carefully. There are over 100 million people who have been forcibly displaced from their homes and over 36 million of these are seeking refuge in other countries. We are in the Continue reading »
After the battles over 5G, social media and advanced microchips, Chinese electric cars are the new front line of US economic warfare. Like any environmentally correct person in North America, I was toying with the idea of buying a Tesla to replace my beat-up eight-year-old Honda. While doing some research, this came up and suddenly Continue reading »
The contribution of nuclear power to electricity generation is the lowest for thirty years and its price twice that of renewables. It crackles like a Geiger counter in a uranium mine: in 2023, Emmanuel Macron announced plans for six additional EPR [European Pressurised Reactor] nuclear power plants. Hang on, no, perhaps fourteen in the long Continue reading »
The Cross speaks to us of how we find God in places where compassion is needed. Those places in our own hearts and circumstances where we feel most lost; those places of our deepest grief and regret. The Cross speaks to us of the presence of God, full of compassion and One from whom nothing Continue reading »
The unreasonable delay by the United States in supporting calls for a ceasefire has resulted in thousands of needless deaths that could have been prevented by a simple US vote. This obstructionism and the lack of leadership is an eternal shame for a country that purports to claim moral leadership and respect for the international Continue reading »
I never thought I’d see an inspiring Easter reflection in the usually secular, The Saturday Paper. But last Saturday (March 23) there was Stan Grant, writing on the Christian feast. Grant is a really thoughtful writer and his spirituality comes, he says, ‘from being born into a history of suffering’ as a First Nations person, Continue reading »
“The climate crisis is too urgent for the U.S. or any country to allow outdated trade rules… to distract us from enacting bold climate policies,” argued one campaigner. As the Chinese government on Tuesday formally challenged what it termed “discriminatory” U.S. electric vehicle subsidies, climate action advocates warned that antiquated trade policies and international bickering Continue reading »