Global Developments and Analysis: Weekly Monitor, 16 November - 22 November

Economic

China and U.S. should negotiate BIT after Joe Biden takes office: analysts

China and the US should work together to negotiate a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) after president-elect Joe Biden takes office, said economists and analysts, amid China's ongoing push for greater opening-up and post-virus global economic recovery which needs closer cooperation among major powers. The comments were made on Nov 21 during a panel discussion at the 2020 International Conference of Understanding China, which is being held in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, from Nov 20 to Nov 22. "Both nations clearly recognize with benefits of an enforceable rule-based framework. A BIT would provide greater market access. It would also reduce the ownership caps on foreign direct investment in both countries," Stephen Roach, senior fellow at Yale University, said during the discussion. A BIT would also enable the expansion of Chinese ownership of US assets, and reduce the potential expansion of the US Entity List, said Roach, adding that the U.S. has been a long-term beneficiary of China's opening-up over the past four decades. Click here to read... [2]

Xi says China will consider joining TPP

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Nov 21 said China is open to joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, in a likely move to bolster the country's presence in Asia while the U.S. focuses on its presidential transition. China "will favourably consider joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership," Xi said, referring to the 11-member trade pact, during a virtual summit for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Twenty-one economies, including Japan, China, the U.S., Canada, South Korea and Indonesia, took part in the APEC summit. His remarks signalled that China plans to play a larger economic role in the region as the U.S. retreats from multilateral trade frameworks. President Donald Trump has pulled the U.S. out of the TPP under his "America first" strategy. The Chinese leader also welcomed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a long-sought trade pact that 15 countries including China, Japan and South Korea signed the weekend prior. Click here to read... [3]

China likely to reduce US debt holdings on default risks and uncertain political outlook: expert

China slashed $6.3 billion worth of US debt in September for the fourth consecutive month in a year, a move that indicates China is systematically reducing its holdings of US bonds as the dollar default risks rise and the outlook of the China-US ties remain uncertain under the incoming Biden administration, experts said. China decreased its holdings of US treasury bonds by $6.3 billion to $1.06 trillion in September, remaining the world's second-largest holder of US debt after Japan, data from US Treasury Department showed on Tuesday. The cut in September marks the fourth consecutive month for China to trim its holdings of US bonds in the year, after reducing $5.4 billion in August, $1 billion in July and $9.3 billion in June. The potential risks behind surging debt level in the US could be one reason why China has gradually cut its holdings of US treasury bonds, experts said. It is necessary for China to diversify risks and appropriately reduce the holdings of US dollar assets to avoid a possible dollar collapse, Dong Dengxin, director of the Finance and Securities Institute at the Wuhan University of Science and Technology, told the Global Times on Nov 18. Click here to read... [4]

Huawei to sell budget phone brand Honor to ensure its ‘survival’ amid ‘tremendous pressure’ on supply chain

Huawei has announced a complete sell-off of its cost-effective smart phone brand, Honor, stating that a consortium of dealers will soon take over as the Chinese telecom giant fully divests from the company. Observing that its consumer business has been under “tremendous pressure as of late,” Huawei said in a statement on Nov 17 that it would sell all business assets linked to Honor to a newly created parent company, Shenzhen Zhixin New Information Technology Co., which was established by more than 30 “agents and dealers” of the budget phone brand. “Once the sale is complete, Huawei will not hold any shares or be involved in any business management or decision-making activities in the new Honor Company,” the firm said, adding that Honor’s industry chain spearheaded the move in order to “ensure its own survival.” While the company gave no overall price tag for the deal, a previous Reuters report suggested Honor would be sold for some $15 billion (100 billion yuan), citing anonymous sources privy to the details of the sale.

In latest China jab, US drafts list of 89 firms with military ties

The Trump administration is close to declaring that 89 Chinese aerospace and other companies have military ties, restricting them from buying a range of US goods and technology, according to a draft copy of the list seen by Reuters. The list, if published, could further escalate trade tensions with Beijing and hurt US companies that sell civil aviation parts and components to China, among other industries. A spokesman for the US Department of Commerce, which produced the list, declined to comment. The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Commercial Aircraft Corp of China Ltd (COMAC), which is spearheading Chinese efforts to compete with Boeing and Airbus, is on the list, as is Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and 10 of its related entities. The list is included in a draft rule that identifies Chinese and Russian companies the US considers "military end users", a designation that means US suppliers must seek licenses to sell a broad swath of commercially available items to them. Click here to read... [5]

How to make money with AI in 2030

No conference on artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning or robotics would be complete without its fair share of technologists, programmers and engineers. But on scanning the list of attendees at the 2020 Rise of AI Summit, a hybrid (digital and physical) event this week in Berlin (November 17-18, 2020) and the number of people from health insurance companies, banks and venture capitalists is astonishing. As one of the founders of the event, CEO of Asgard Capital, Fabian Westerheide, said in his opening remarks on "The Next Decade of AI, we are in a 'renaissance' of the technology." Westerheide says we're seeing a "refurbishment of ideas from the 1960s, 70s and 80s," combined with the amount of data we have now and today's processing power. He calls it "old ideas, new execution, and new capital." With extra stress on the capital, Hans Uszkoreit, a professor and scientific director at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), says Germany and Europe lag behind the USA and China in AI-based internet services, consumer electronics, and the financial sector. It's unclear who's leading in public transport and the automotive sectors Click here to read... [6]

How climate change threatens African coffee farmers

Some 169 million bags of coffee were produced in the 2019/2020 coffee year, according to the International Coffee Organization. But the future of coffee is gloomy. About 60% of wild coffee strains worldwide are in danger of extinction, according to a study by the US journal Science Advances. About 10 million farmers plant coffee across 25 African nations. Ethiopia, where the habit of drinking coffee first developed, along with Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya produce 80% of Africa's total coffee exports, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development. From an agricultural standpoint, East Africa is one of the world's best regions for coffee farming. The highlands have moderate temperatures but enough rainfall to keep the soil fertile. Climate change is threatening this delicate balance. "Without appropriate measures, experts assume that climate change will reduce coffee growing areas by about 50 percent worldwide by 2050," finds a new study by the World Resources Institute. Click here to read... [7]

Beijing warns of crackdown on misconduct after bond defaults

Beijing has warned it will show “zero tolerance” for financial misconduct after several high-profile bond defaults by state-owned companies roiled the Chinese debt market. Speaking at a meeting for the committee that oversees China’s financial sector over the weekend, vice premier Liu He said authorities would “severely” crack down on illegal behaviour on bond financing, ranging from “malicious” transfer of assets to misuse of funds. The comments come as one of China’s largest coal companies Yongcheng Coal and Electricity Holding Group this week faces potential defaults on Rmb 26.5bn ($4bn) worth of bonds after it missed a Rmb1bn debt payment earlier this month. The recent missed payments have shattered the widely held belief among Chinese bond investors that state-backed companies enjoyed an implicit guarantee from the local government, regardless of their financial health. As a result, many state-owned companies have suspended bond issuance and many more defaults could follow as these groups rely on issuing new bonds to pay off the old ones. Click here to read... [8]

Pakistan balks at IMF demands over $6bn loan

Talks between Pakistan and the IMF to restart a $6b loan programme have stalled over Prime Minister Imran Khan’s refusal to introduce unpopular measures, say senior government officials. Formal discussions to release a tranche of funding have been pushed back over concerns from Islamabad that instituting the reforms tied to the loan would provoke a backlash from the hard-hit middle class. An IMF team that was expected to visit Islamabad in October has not yet arrived “as the fund is waiting to know if we are willing to take other steps to reduce the [fiscal] deficit”, said one of the officials. “In view of coronavirus this year, our economy continues to underperform. Tax revenues are down,” he added. The sticking points between Islamabad and the IMF on resuming the programme include raising electricity tariffs, higher tax collection targets and increasing the repo rate, which was lowered to 7 per cent in June from 13.25 per cent earlier in the year. Click here to read... [9]

China's RCEP tariff concessions still guard growth sectors

China's plans for phasing out tariffs under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership have shed light on Beijing's strategic thinking on nurturing industries, with electric-vehicle technologies positioned as a top priority that will enjoy long-term tariff protection.Under the new massive trade deal signed on Nov 15, China is set to scrap tariffs immediately on a large portion of items that are currently subject to a roughly 2% to 6% tariff, mostly in areas where China already is a competitive player. But it secured a longer grace period on many items that are protected under steep tariffs, or that are expected to face intense global competition in coming years. By mixing immediate tariff repeals with long phase-out periods, Beijing managed to create an industry road map that will shield growth sectors, such as eco-friendly vehicles, from foreign competitors for the long term. For example, China will not scrap its tariffs on certain electrodes and materials for electric car batteries until the 16th year of the agreement. China considers electric vehicles a priority area and has quickly bolstered output of battery components. A Chinese company is now the world's top producer of insulators. Click here to read... [10]

Strategic

Politburo member's conspicuous absence clouds Xinjiang's future

The Chinese Communist Party earlier this week decided to implement "Xi Jinping Thought on the Rule of Law." The meeting where the party's decision was made, a two-day affair, was an important one. Normally, the 25 members of the Politburo, including all seven members of the Politburo Standing Committee, would attend. But one person was not there: Chen Quanguo, the Communist Party secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.This is not the first time Chen has missed a key meeting. He did not attend the fifth plenary session of the party's 19th Central Committee, which ended on Oct. 29. It is unusual for members of the Politburo to be absent from the plenum -- a gathering of about 200 Central Committee members and 170 candidate members. The U.S. is casting a stern eye on Chen over the treatment of Xinjiang's Uighur Muslims on his watch. Many experts say the U.S. is likely to increase pressure on China over Xinjiang after President-elect Joe Biden takes office, citing his vocal advocacy of human rights. Now there is rampant speculation that something might have happened to Chen. Click here to read... [11]

Mauritius makes play for future with US base on Diego Garcia

Mauritius, Jugnauth said this month, was prepared to renew an offer it had made to President Donald Trump's administration: a long-term lease of Diego Garcia for its continued use "as a military base by American authorities." The proposal was a reminder to Washington that Mauritius is sticking to its diplomatic blueprint to reclaim Diego Garcia. In 2019, the International Court of Justice, the U.N.'s highest court, affirmed in an advisory that the Chagos Archipelago is part of Mauritian territory. The same year, the U.N. General Assembly echoed the court's view in a sweeping vote. The Mauritian offer of a 99-year-lease to the U.S. has bipartisan political consensus in the country of over 1.2 million people. "It is supported not only at the government level but by all political parties in Mauritius," said Koonjul. “There is a national consensus that we are not going to force the Americans to leave the Chagos Archipelago or the island of Diego Garcia, where they have got the base." Click here to read... [12]

US Navy chief wants Indian Ocean '1st Fleet,' possibly in Singapore

The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet, based in Yokosuka, Japan, covers an area stretching from Hawaii to the India-Pakistan border, encompassing the maritime territories of 36 countries and 50% of the world's population. It is the largest of the Navy's forward deployed fleets that has under its jurisdiction at any given time 50 to 70 ships and submarines, 150 aircraft and approximately 20,000 sailors. But if the U.S. is truly willing to have a Indo-Pacific presence, it needs a new "1st Fleet" in the Pacific based closer to the Indian Ocean, possibly in Singapore, Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite said on Nov 17. "We can't just rely on the 7th Fleet in Japan. We have to look to our other allies and partners like Singapore, like India, and actually put a numbered fleet where it would be extremely relevant if, God forbid, we were to ever to get in any kind of a dust-up," he said in comments carried by USNI News, the publication run by the United States Naval Institute. Click here to read... [13]

Facebook plans charm offensive for Joe Biden

Facebook is plotting a charm offensive to repair ties with the incoming Biden administration, as it looks to stave off the threat of being more heavily regulated or even broken up during the president-elect’s term in office. Company executives are planning a major push to encourage users to take a coronavirus vaccine, as well as incentivising people to share content related to the Paris climate agreement, which Joe Biden has promised to rejoin, in the hopes of winning favour in Washington. The social media company has long been a source of anger among senior Democrats, many of whom blame it for not doing enough to combat misinformation. In the days after this month’s election, Bill Russo, Mr Biden’s deputy communications director, posted a series of tweets attacking the company, saying: “If you thought disinformation on Facebook was a problem during our election, just wait until you see how it is shredding the fabric of our democracy in the days after.” Facebook hopes that Nick Clegg, the company’s vice-president of global affairs, will help mend relations. The former British deputy prime minister struck up a rapport with Mr Biden when both were in office nearly a decade ago. Click here to read... [14]

China blasts Five Eyes over Hong Kong comments

China has lashed out at the Five Eyes intelligence alliance after it urged Beijing to reverse the disqualification of pro-democracy lawmakers from Hong Kong’s de facto parliament. In a statement released on Nov 18, the US, UK, Australia, New Zealand and Canada called China’s actions “a clear breach of its international obligations under the legally binding, UN-registered Sino-British Joint Declaration”. It added that “the disqualification rules appear part of a concerted campaign to silence all critical voices”. China’s foreign ministry responded on Nov 19 by expressing “firm opposition” to what it called “irresponsible” interference in Hong Kong’s affairs. “Regardless of whether they have five eyes or 10, if they dare to harm China’s national interest, then they should be wary of those eyes being poked blind,” a ministry spokesperson said. Last week, Beijing empowered the Hong Kong government to expel lawmakers who were “unpatriotic” from the territory’s legislative council. Click here to read... [15]

Biden’s ‘alter ego’ Antony Blinken tipped for top foreign policy job

When Joe Biden enters office in January, his closest foreign policy adviser will be a guitar-playing Beatles fanatic who first started promoting American values as a high school student in Paris during the cold war. In the coming weeks, the president-elect is widely expected to appoint Antony Blinken, a three-decade fixture in Democratic foreign policy circles — who first worked with Mr Biden in the Senate — as secretary of state or national security adviser. Whether he serves close to Mr Biden in the West Wing or as the top American diplomat, Mr Blinken will be returning to familiar ground. A former speech writer for President Bill Clinton, he was national security adviser to Mr Biden when he was vice-president, before becoming deputy national security adviser to Barack Obama and deputy secretary of state. Although some of the challenges will be familiar to Mr Blinken, he will also face new dilemmas such as dealing with an even more assertive China. Click here to read... [16]

US Navy admiral makes unannounced visit to Taiwan, sources say

A two-star Navy admiral overseeing US military intelligence in the Asia-Pacific region has made an unannounced visit to Taiwan, two sources told Reuters on Nov 22, in a high-level trip that could vex China. The sources, who include a Taiwanese official familiar with the situation, said the official was Rear Admiral Michael Studeman. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity. According to the Navy's website, Studeman is director of the J2, which oversees intelligence at the US military's Indo-Pacific Command.The Pentagon declined comment, as did Taiwan's Defence Ministry. Taiwan's foreign ministry confirmed on Nov 22 that a US official had arrived in Taiwan but declined to provide details, saying the trip had not been made public. China, which claims democratically run Taiwan as its own territory, reacted with fury when US Health Secretary Alex Azar came to Taipei in August, followed by US Undersecretary of State Keith Krach in September, sending fighter jets near the island each time. Click here to read... [17]

Iran hits out at France, Germany & UK over accusations advanced uranium enrichment violates nuclear deal

Tehran has insisted its nuclear activity is “peaceful” and “legal” after France, Germany and the UK accused it of seriously violating the 2015 nuclear deal by ploughing ahead with uranium enrichment using advanced centrifuges. The allegations follow reports citing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) this week, claiming that Iran had started uranium enrichment and that it is constructing a new centrifuge assembly factory at its Natanz enrichment plant. The “E3 Group” of European states expressed “concerns” in a joint statement on Nov 19 at the growth of Iran’s low-enriched uranium stockpile, which a recent report from the UN nuclear watchdog said had reached 2,443kg — 12 times the limit set out in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) on the Iranian nuclear program. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh responded to the accusations on Nov 20, saying that Iran’s nuclear program is “peaceful” and “totally legal, legitimate, and within the framework of international law.” Click here to read... [18]

Palestinian Authority sending ambassadors back to UAE and Bahrain after resuming coordination with Israel

Ambassadors from Palestine are being sent back to their posts in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, after being recalled in response to the Gulf states’ US-brokered deals with Israel, a Palestinian official said on Nov 18. The announcement comes after the Palestinian Authority announced a day earlier that it would resume security and civil coordination with Israel some six months after President Mahmoud Abbas withdrew from all agreements in protest at Israel’s annexation plans for the West Bank. On Nov 18, the first government delegation from Bahrain landed in Israel, amid thawing relations between the two states. Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Al-Zayani travelled on the first Gulf Air commercial flight to Tel Aviv, which had the number GF972, a reference to Israel’s telephone code, +972. Al-Zayani announced that from December there would be 14 weekly flights between Israel and Bahrain, with a new electronic visa system to be introduced on December 1. He also called for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to resume. Click here to read... [19]

Hungary vetoed EU budget because Brussels forces states to accept immigration, Orban says

Prime Minister Viktor Orban explained on Nov 18 that Hungary vetoed the European Union’s 2021-2027 budget and post-coronavirus recovery fund because of the “blackmail” that demands mandatory support for immigration. “After accepting the current proposal, there would be no barrier from tying the disbursement of funds to member states to supporting immigration and blackmailing the countries that oppose immigration with budgetary sanctions,” Orban said. Hungary and Poland vetoed both the budget and the recovery plan for economies depressed by the Covid-19 pandemic on Nov 16, arguing that the budget law included a clause that makes access to money conditional on respecting the rule of law. But the EU’s €1.8 trillion ($2.14 trillion) financial package does not have any specific clauses about immigration. Orban has long opposed mass immigration, saying that it hurts national and European Christian identity. Click here to read... [20]

Europe shouldn’t create ‘illusion’ that it can protect itself without US – German defense chief

Europe’s push for more ‘autonomy’ won’t do any good if it promotes the idea that the continent can defend itself without the US and NATO, Germany’s defence minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has said. In a speech to students at a military college in Hamburg, Kramp-Karrenbauer noted how the US still provides the bulk of NATO’s ballistic missile defences, satellite communication, reconnaissance aircraft and helicopters, while around 76,000 American soldiers are stationed in Europe. Replacing all that would take “decades” and require far greater defense budgets than European nations can now afford, she explained. The concept dubbed ‘strategic autonomy for Europe’ was unveiled by Brussels in response to the growing rift between the EU countries and US President Donald Trump who oftentimes spoke dismissively about NATO and berated allies like Germany for what he said was its failure to pay their fair share into the bloc’s collective defense. European Council President Charles Michel said in September that the quest towards greater autonomy was “the aim of our generation” to make Europe more independent and formidable against various crises. Click here to read... [21]

Pompeo tour seeks to cement Trump's 'maximum pressure' on Iran

US top diplomat Mike Pompeo has used a late-term Middle East tour to cement Washington's "maximum pressure" campaign on Iran, so President-elect Joe Biden cannot easily reverse it. As the Donald Trump era draws to a close, US Secretary of State Pompeo has made containing the Islamic republic a key focus of his trip and even refused to rule out a military strike in a newspaper interview published Nov 22. While Biden has signalled a return to diplomacy with the Islamic republic, Pompeo has insisted Iran is the region's top threat, in a tour taking in Israel and the UAE and concluding in Saudi Arabia - all countries that view Iran through the same hawkish lens."This administration ... is here until Jan 20" and will "continue to pursue its policies", a senior US official travelling with Pompeo said during the stop in Abu Dhabi, which had followed a visit to Qatar's capital Doha. "I would hope that this leverage that the (Trump) administration works so hard to get will be used to good purpose to get the Iranians to, once again, start behaving like a normal state." Click here to read... [22]

Netanyahu met Saudi crown prince, Pompeo in Saudi Arabia on Sunday: Reports

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly visited Saudi Arabia on Sunday and met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo there, Israel's Kan public radio and Army Radio said on Nov 23. Netanyahu's office and the US Embassy in Jerusalem had no immediate comment. Avi Scharf of Israel's Haaretz newspaper published aviation tracking data showing that a business jet had made a brief trip from Tel Aviv to Neom, on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, where Bin Salman and Pompeo had a scheduled meeting on Nov 22. Pompeo has tried to coax the Gulf powerhouse to follow its neighbours, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in establishing formal relations with Israel - a rapprochement built largely on shared concerns about Iran. Riyadh has so far declined to normalise ties with Israel, saying Palestinian statehood goals should be addressed first. But the Saudis have allowed Israeli airliners to fly over their territory to newly available Gulf destinations and to Asia. Click here to read... [23]

US provides missiles, renews pledge to defend Philippines

President Donald Trump’s administration provided precision-guided missiles and other weapons to help the Philippines battle Islamic State group-aligned militants and renewed the United States' pledge to defend its treaty ally if it comes under attack in the disputed South China Sea. National security adviser Robert O’Brien represented Trump in Nov 23 ceremony at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila, where he announced the delivery of the cache of missiles and bombs to the Philippine military. Trump pledged to provide the US$18 million worth of missiles in a phone conversation with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in April. O’Brien represented Trump in a recent online summit between the US and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and an expanded East Asia summit of heads of state attended by China and Russia that was also held by video and hosted by Vietnam. Duterte moved to abrogate the Visiting Forces Agreement with the US early this year, but later delayed the effectivity of his decision to next year, a move welcomed by O’Brien. Click here to read... [24]

Russia's 'foreign agent' bill foreshadows civil society clampdown

The general thrust of several draft laws put forward in Russia's State Duma in the past few days is that the country is facing threats from abroad and the state must act quickly to ward them off. For years, people in Russia who are involved in politics and receive money from abroad have had to register as "foreign agents" with the relevant authorities. Every person or organization thus listed is obliged to send the authorities regular reports on their activities and expenditures. The new draft law extends the scope of the current procedure to include a large number of individual people. It would mean that they could be banned from working as public servants or having access to confidential documents. If they run in elections, such candidates would have to publicly identify themselves as "foreign agents." Another new aspect is that foreign journalists who are accredited in Russia could also be included in this category. Other new proposed regulations target social platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. Tighter restrictions are also envisaged for the education sector.Click here to read... [25]

Austria wants ethical rules on battlefield killer robots

Vienna is embarking on a diplomatic initiative to draw up an ethical framework for the use of killer robots on the battlefields of the future. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said similar standards should be adopted as those established for landmines and cluster weapons. "We have to create rules before killer robots reach the battlefield of this Earth," Schallenberg told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. He said the Austrian government was planning a conference in Vienna in 2021 "to usher in a process "to initiate a process that will hopefully lead to an international convention on the use of artificial intelligence on battlefields." Until now, Schallenberg said, the theme has not been sufficiently addressed at a diplomatic level. "With this conference, we want to create a movement between states, experts, and nongovernmental organizations like the Red Cross," he said. The use of Lethal Autonomous Weapons has been under discussion by the United Nations since 2015, within the framework of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. Pioneering countries in the field of autonomous weapons systems — Russia, the United States and Israel — reject a binding ban under international law. Click here to read... [26]

Germany, Russia remain committed to Open Skies arms control treaty following US withdrawal

Germany "deeply regrets" US quitting from the Opens Skies Treaty and remains committed to the international arms control agreement, while Russia said it will seek firm guarantees that the states remaining in the treaty fulfill their obligations. "We deeply regret that the US decided to take this step and is now doing it. Our stance on the treaty has not changed: we see it as an important part of the arms control architecture," Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement on Nov 22. The minister also said that Germany is committed to efforts to overhaul the treaty so as to improve its role in confidence building between its members. The U.S. move to abandon the treaty on Nov 22 marked the end of a six-month notification process since the world's superpower submitted the notice of its decision to exit the treaty in May. The treaty, which became effective in 2002, allows its 34 State Parties to conduct short-notice, unarmed reconnaissance flights over the others' entire territories to collect data on military forces and activities. Click here to read... [27]

Medical

Chinese President Xi proposes GLOBAL health QR code system to revive coronavirus-battered trade & travel

Speaking during the G20 summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping promoted the idea of introducing globally recognized health QR codes, saying it would help to restore coronavirus-hit international trade and travel. “While containing the virus, we need to restore the secure and smooth operation of global industrial and supply chains,” China’s leader told the virtual G20 summit late on Nov 21, while advocating the need to “reduce tariffs and barriers” and “liberalize” the trade of crucial medical supplies. He also called for the creation of mechanisms that would simplify the “orderly flow” of people in the coronavirus-battered world. They could come in the form of QR codes containing people’s health information, Xi said. QR codes of this type are already in active use in China, where internal travel has become largely dependent on them and the corresponding “health apps.” Click here to read... [28]

WHO panel advises against Gilead’s remdesivir for patients hospitalized with Covid-19

A World Health Organization panel said on Nov 20 there is no evidence Gilead’s remdesivir improves survival or reduces the need for ventilation and did not recommend the drug for all patients hospitalized with Covid-19. The WHO’s Guideline Development Group (GDG) issued the guideline citing “a lack of evidence that remdesivir improved outcomes that matter to patients such as reduced mortality, need for mechanical ventilation, time to clinical improvement,” among other things. The drug, called Veklury, or remdesivir, was seen as a potentially effective treatment for the coronavirus in the summer after early trials, and was even used to treat US President Donald Trump. The panel based its conclusion on an evidence review, including data from four international randomized trials involving more than 7,000 patients. The recommendation is not binding, and the panel supports continued enrolment into clinical trials, which should “provide higher certainty of evidence for specific groups of patients.” Click here to read... [29]

US expects to begin COVID-19 vaccinations in early December

The United States hopes to begin a sweeping programme of COVID-19 vaccinations in early December, the head of the government coronavirus vaccine effort said on Nov 22 as cases surge across the worst-hit nation. The beginning of vaccinations could be a crucial turning point in the battle against the virus that has claimed more than 255,000 lives in the US, the world's highest reported toll, since emerging from China late last year. "Our plan is to be able to ship vaccines to the immunisation sites within 24 hours of approval" by the US Food and Drug Administration, Moncef Slaoui told CNN, pointing to possible dates of Dec 11 to 12. FDA vaccine advisors reportedly will meet on Dec 10 to discuss approving vaccines which pharmaceutical firms Pfizer and Moderna say are at least 95 per cent effective. A recent Gallup poll showed that four in 10 Americans still say they would not get a COVID-19 vaccine, though that is down slightly from five in 10 surveyed in September. Click here to read... [30]

AstraZeneca and Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine shows 'an average efficacy of 70%' in trials

British drugs group AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford on Nov 23 said their jointly developed vaccine against COVID-19 has shown "an average efficacy of 70 per cent" in trials. "This vaccine's efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against COVID-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency," Pascal Soriot, AstraZeneca chief executive, said in a statement. The results ranged between 62 and 90 per cent efficacy depending on the vaccine dosage. The vaccine was 90 per cent effective in preventing COVID-19 when it was administered as a half dose followed by a full dose at least one month apart, according to data from the late-stage trials in Britain and Brazil.Another dosing regimen showed 62 per cent efficacy when given as two full doses at least one month apart and the combined analysis from both dosing regimens resulted in an average efficacy of 70 per cent. All results were statistically significant. Click here to read... [31]

A larger, more sinister pandemic lurks beneath COVID-19

More than one in five Americans hospitalised with COVID-19 also contracts a bacterial infection. Absent effective antibiotics, those lucky enough to beat the coronavirus might die at the hands of these not-so-novel pathogens. Unfortunately, the pipeline of new antibiotics is running dry. Less than 100 years after the development of penicillin, drug-resistant superbugs are threatening to gain the upper hand in our fight against bacterial infections. Superbugs already take an enormous toll on health-care systems around the world. About 700,000 people globally die each year due to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Without new and better treatments that figure could rise to ten million by 2050. Researchers are currently developing more than 550 innovative treatments and vaccines for COVID-19 – a pathogen unknown just a year ago. But although AMR has been a known and growing problem for decades, only one new class of antibiotics has been discovered since 1984. Click here to read... [32]