Guardian (February 10)
“Across the UK, firms and consumers are discovering costs of Brexit that Mr Johnson denied. That denial was born of a failure to understand the trade-off between regulatory autonomy and market access. The prime minister swapped seamless trade for notional sovereignty and passed the cost on to unsuspecting businesses. Naturally, he wants to blame the EU for any pain. These are not teething troubles in implementation of the deal. They are the deal.”
Tags: Blame, Brexit, Consumers, Costs, Denial, EU, Failure, Firms, Johnson, Market access, Regulatory autonomy, Seamless trade, Sovereignty, Trade-off, UK
CNN (December 7)
“With days left to reach a trade deal with the European Union, the stakes have never been higher.” Boris Johnson “will have to decide whether sticking to his guns on national sovereignty… makes real-world sense given the economic price the United Kingdom will pay if negotiations fail.” In a no-deal exit “UK companies, already reeling from the pandemic, would lose tariff-free, quota-free access to a market of 450 million consumers that is currently the destination for 43% of British exports.”
Tags: Access, Consumers, EU, Johnson, Market, Negotiations, No-deal, Pandemic, Quotas, Sovereignty, Stakes, Tariffs, Trade, UK
The Independent (November 26)
“Brexit has been a long, slow process in accepting the reality that should have been better understood before the referendum. In the next three weeks, some things will become brutally clear that should have been obvious long ago.” Theresa May’s path to the next EU Council on December 14 will be “strewn with unpalatable truths.” The £40bn exit bill and continuing sovereignty of EU law during the transition are just the beginning. “As it turns out, it may be that the more difficult intrusion of reality into the Brexit negotiations is the question of the Irish border.”
Tags: Brexit, EU Council, EU law, Irish border, May, Reality, Referendum, Sovereignty, Transition, Unpalatable
The Straits Times (October 24)
“It will almost certainly turn out that Britain was more powerful—with more sovereignty—when it was part of a large organisation with international clout.” Following Brexit, the UK will likely be isolated, “with far fewer allies. British consumers, workers and entrepreneurs will pay the price.” But the UK’s fall should provide the rest of the world with a valuable lesson. “The sight of Britain’s sudden banishment to a world where you are better off dealing with cousins will be a useful tonic for everybody else.”
Tags: Allies, Banishment, Brexit, Clout, Consumers, Entrepreneurs, Lesson, Powerful, Price, Sovereignty, UK, Useful, Workers
Wall Street Journal (March 24)
The Obama administration announced plans “to give up U.S. control of the Internet to a still-to-be-determined collection of governments and international groups.” It’s hard to imagine this creating a better governing body. “It’s easy to imagine a new Internet oversight body operating like the United Nations, with repressive governments taking turns silencing critics. China could get its wish to remove FreeTibet.org from the Internet as an affront to its sovereignty. Russia could force Twitter to remove posts by Ukrainian-Americans criticizing Vladimir Putin.” Congress should override President Obama’s decision.
Tags: China, Congress, Critics, Governing body, Icann, Internet, Obama, Putin, Russia, Sovereignty, Tibet, Twitter, U.S., Ukraine, UN
Financial Times (December 4, 2013)
“Beijing, in its dispute with Japan, risks repeating the errors of an earlier era that led to war.” Though war is not inevitable, the risk has risen in a manner eerily reminiscent of how Germany set tinder that ultimately ignited, propelling Europe into the First World War. “One wonders why the Chinese leadership thinks asserting sovereignty over a few rocks worth the risk. Yes, China may get away with it this time and the next, and the time after that. But each throw of the dice renews the risks. What gains can justify the possible losses?” With tension and mistrust rising and “for the sake of the longer-term interests of the Chinese people, Mr Xi should think again – and halt.”“Beijing, in its dispute with Japan, risks repeating the errors of an earlier era that led to war.” Though war is not inevitable, the risk has risen in a manner eerily reminiscent of how Germany set tinder that ultimately ignited, propelling Europe into the First World War. “One wonders why the Chinese leadership thinks asserting sovereignty over a few rocks worth the risk. Yes, China may get away with it this time and the next, and the time after that. But each throw of the dice renews the risks. What gains can justify the possible losses?” With tension and mistrust rising and “for the sake of the longer-term interests of the Chinese people, Mr Xi should think again – and halt.”
Tags: ADIZ, Beijing, China, Europe, Gains, Germany, Interests, Japan, Losses, Mistrust, Risks, Sovereignty, Tension, WWI, Xi
The Telegraph (August 20)
China and Japan are “two nations locked in mutual loathing” and the “historic enmity between the two countries – now resurfacing in a dispute over sovereignty – threatens stability in East Asia.”
Tags: China, East Asia, Enmity, Japan, Sovereignty
