The US and China have finally declared a truce in their two-year trade war. The countries have signed what they dubbed the first phrase of a broader trade pact. Washington offered to ease some punitive tariffs while China agreed to go on a $200 billion American buying spree and do more to crack down on Chinese theft of US companies’ trade secrets.
Great news, right? Not so fast, argues Penelope Prime. She highlights three fundamental issues the deal fails to resolve – all of which make getting a more comprehensive accord difficult.
Elsewhere David Rowe explores the history of the Olympic Games as a site for political protest as the International Olympic Committee moves to block athletes from any form of political protest at the Tokyo edition of the games in July.
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President Donald Trump shakes hands with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He after signing the trade agreement.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Penelope B. Prime, Georgia State University
The deal represents a trade war truce but doesn't resolve the underlying tensions that led to the two-year-old conflict.
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The Olympics are an international gathering – politics and protest can’t be divided from that.
Orestis Panagioutou/EPA
David Rowe, Western Sydney University
From Peter O'Connor waving the Irish flag in 1906 to rainbow colours at Sochi, athletes have always used the Olympics to share their politics.
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Science + Technology
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Esther Ndumi Ngumbi, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Countries should promote alternatives to pesticides and more carefully examine how to prevent insect invasions in the first place instead of reaction when they happen.
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Alexander Bowles, University of Essex
New research has pinpointed the genetic boost behind one of the biggest transformations of life on Earth.
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Environment + Energy
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Arne Mooers, Simon Fraser University
While Hail Mary conservation efforts can pull birds back from the brink, an extinction wave still looms.
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Paul Read, Monash University; Richard Denniss, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Estimates of the cost of Victoria's 2009 Black Saturday fires provide a staring point for calculating the much bigger cost of these ones.
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