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What's to become of the EU if Britain leaves? Or would both be better off?
A United Kingdom without a European Union and an EU without a UK has led to much speculation since the 2016 British referendum vote to escape the political union that was threatening to turn Britain into a province.
The 48 per cent of No voters were appalled by the outcome, believing that what's good for the bureaucracy was good for the UK, and certainly good for them. Since the referendum, No voters hoped that the 52 per cent would turn away from their folly or be thwarted in its pursuit.
Today the 48 per cent - and to a lesser extent the 52 per cent - have had to look what now appears to be an inevitability - and see if they can find a silver lining in the overcast skies that becloud their futures.
One optimistic point for the 52 percenters is the Bank of England's view that a decisive break, or "hard Brexit", as it is called, would be more damaging to Europe than the UK.
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France positions itself socially to get the best deal it can from China
With the UK in Brexit mode, it is said there is a great opportunity for France to position itself as Europe's key partner for Belt and Road-related projects and highlight areas for closer collaboration.
And now it appears that the French are taking steps to do just that. As if to say he understands this geopolitical situation in precisely these terms, French President Emmanuel Macron said: “The new roads cannot only go one way.”
During his state visit earlier this year, instead of ceremonially celebrating a few one-off deals, the French delegation spoke of free and fair trade and the need for reciprocal treatment.
President Macron’s visit resulted in major contracts for major French corporations such as Airbus and Areva, as well as new partnerships in the sectors of culture and art.
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Germans wary of Communist Party agents lodged in their China units
China is Germany's biggest trading partner, having surpassed the US for the second consecutive year - yet recent events have threatened this happy state.
That's because China's President Xi Jinping has tightened his grip on day-to-day life, making the state apparatus more intrusive even to the point of lodging Communist Party agents in Germany's Chinese subsidiaries.
One must keep in mind that Germany has had bad experiences with authoritarianism. In fact, in an otherwise free-speech country, Germans can be jailed simply for advocating the return of National Socialism or anything that resembles it.
This sensitivity has recently been expressed by unhappy noises from the German Industry and Commerce in China and the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce in China.
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Europe mulls: Yes, Trump is a beastly boor, but is he right about China?
Looking at what has been said about Sino-European trade relations in recent months, it seems that while no European wants to be as boorish and beastly as US President Donald Trump appears to be, yet they are singing his tune nonetheless.
It's like defeating insurgent ISIS in Syria. While all say how hateful the Russians are defending Syria's President Bashar Assad, US forces still worked with Moscow to drive out the enemy they all shared - the most dangerous terrorist group in the world.
In trade conflicts with China, Europeans tend to walk softly without a hint of a big stick because of lures of investment deals and closer cooperation banish such thoughts from their minds.
But this vegetarian approach, says Fredrik Erixon, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels, has not borne fruit.
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