Australia cancels Victoria state’s belt and road pact with China

Australia on Wednesday announced it would revoke a major state’s participation in China’s Belt and Road Initiative, after deeming its agreements with Beijing to be at odds with Canberra’s foreign policy.

Australia Foreign Minister Marise Payne said she had cancelled a non-binding memorandum of understanding and “Framework Agreement” signed between the state of Victoria and China’s National Development and Reform Commission in 2018 and 2019.

Payne also cancelled an MOU and agreement on scientific cooperation between Victoria’s Department of Education and Training and its counterpart organisations in Iran and Syria.

Payne said the deals were “inconsistent with Australia’s foreign policy or adverse to our foreign relations” under legislation passed last year that gave the top diplomat veto powers over deals signed between foreign countries and subnational authorities such as state governments, local councils and publicly-funded universities.

Premier Daniel Andrews and Chinese Ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye signed a BRI Framework Agreement in 2019 

                                                                                                                        While not officially targeted at a particular country, the law’s introduction followed months of tensions between Canberra and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and his government over how to manage relations with Beijing.

In response, China’s embassy in Australia said Canberra’s decision was “bound to bring further damage to bilateral relations” as it voiced “strong displeasure and resolute opposition” to the move.

Sino-Australian relations have sunk to their lowest point in decades since Canberra last April called for an international inquiry into the Covid-19 pandemic.

澳大利亚外交部长突然宣布撕毁“一带一路”协议

21日消息，澳大利亚外交部长佩恩在当日一份声明中宣布，澳大利亚维多利亚州与中国此前签署的“一带一路”协议已被该国联邦政府取消。佩恩在声明中称，这一协议不符合澳大利亚的外交政策。

2019年10月，中国与澳大利亚维多利亚州签署了“一带一路”协议，双方将就此展开基建、贸易等多方面的经济合作。在协议签署后，澳大利亚多位政府官员曾以“不透明”等名义反对这一协议，并将其污名化为“中国的宣传策略”。

2020年12月，澳大利亚联邦国会通过了新的《外国关系法案》，该法案赋予了联邦否决州政府等各级政府、机构与外国签订协议的权力。据报道，本次否决“一带一路”协议的举措，是澳大利亚联邦政府第一次启用这项法案授予的否决权。

对此，中国驻澳大利亚大使馆进行了回应：我们对澳大利亚外长4月21日宣布撕毁中方同澳大利亚维多利亚州政府签订的“一带一路”备忘录和框架协议表示强烈不满和坚决反对。

“一带一路”是一个经济合作倡议，始终秉持共商共建共享原则，倡导开放、包容、透明的精神，已经为参与各方带来了实实在在的利益。中方同澳大利亚维多利亚州在“一带一路”框架下开展合作，有利于深化双方经贸关系，有利于促进维州经济发展，增进维州人民福祉。

澳方此举是针对中方的又一无理挑衅行径。它再次表明澳方对改善中澳关系毫无诚意，势必对双边关系造成进一步损害，也必将搬起石头砸自己的脚。

Russian fund to increase Sputnik-V COVID-19 vaccine production with Chinese companies

Russia's COVID-19 vaccine named Sputnik V

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) on Monday announced the cooperated production of more than 100 million doses a year of the Sputnik V vaccine in conjunction with Chinese company Hualan Biological Bacterin Co Ltd.

The manufacture of the Covid-19 vaccine will be carried out in the Chinese facilities of that company and will be used to immunize more than 50 million people, the Public Relations service of the Russian Fund pointed out. By late March, China's Shenzhen Yuanxing Gene-tech Co. also agreed to produce 60 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine to fight the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the disease, in conjunction with the RDIF, which financed the development of the medicine.

RDIF Chief Executive Kirill Dmitriev commented that the agreement with one of China's leading vaccine manufacturers will help significantly to increase the manufacturing capabilities of the Sputnik V vaccine.

To date, the Sputnik V vaccine has been certified in 60 countries, accounting for a total population of three billion people.

俄罗斯将委托华兰生物生产“卫星V”新冠疫苗

4月19日晚，华兰生物工程股份有限公司公告，控股子公司华兰疫苗与俄罗斯LIMITED LIABILITYCOMPANY “HUMAN VACCINE”签署《产品技术转移和生产协议》。根据协议，HV公司向华兰疫苗转移“卫星V”5L/200L培养规模的生产技术，华兰疫苗在该技术基础上进行2500L培养规模的生产技术开发，技术开发成功后HV公司向华兰疫苗下达生产订单，订单数量不低于1亿剂（5000万人份）。

“卫星V”由俄罗斯疫苗生产商伽马勒国家流行病学和微生物学研究所（下称“伽马勒研究所”）研发。该疫苗2020年8月就已被俄罗斯官方批准紧急使用，但当时其尚未进行临床三期试验，这一举动曾招致众多研究者的质疑。不过，伽马勒研究所于2021年2月2日在权威医学杂志《柳叶刀》发表临床三期试验的同行评审结果显示，“卫星V”预防新冠的有效性达到91.6％，对重症的预防率为100%。

“卫星V”属腺病毒载体疫苗，分两剂接种，第一剂使用Ad26作为载体，第二剂用Ad5作为载体。近期，阿斯利康、强生腺病毒载体新冠疫苗因接连报告接种后出现严重血栓病例陷入争议，“卫星V”属同一技术路线。

Annual Covid-19 Vaccine Booster Shots Likely Needed

A leading expert from China's national vaccine development team said that it is possible that people have to receive COVID-19 vaccines annually to boost immunity, but whether it is necessary to do so requires further analysis. 

Shao Yiming, China's leading physician-scientist and immunologist serving at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a press conference on Wednesday that global authorities and vaccine producers have been collecting and analyzing data over the past half year of the application of COVID-19 vaccines.

A medical worker shows the box for a coronavirus vaccine to a patient at a vaccination facility

A final analysis of the data will decide whether it is necessary to receive vaccines against the novel coronavirus annually, like flu shots, he said. 

Shao noted Wednesday that no vaccine can be 100 percent effective, and some recipients will get infected after vaccination. The most important thing is to prevent hospitalization, serious symptoms and deaths, against which most existing COVID-19 vaccines can be more than 80 percent effective.

Pfizer Inc. Chief Executive Albert Bourla said it is likely that people who receive Covid-19 vaccines will need booster shots within a year afterward, and then annual vaccinations, to maintain protection against the virus as it evolves. 

Pfizer and its partner, BioNTech SE, said recently that the shot remains highly effective six months after its second dose, and they hope to provide more information on protection beyond six months in the coming weeks.

中国新冠疫苗使用总体时限在半年左右，未来可能需每年加强

4月21日，国务院联防联控机制召开新闻发布会，介绍新冠疫苗接种有关情况。科研攻关组疫苗研发专班专家组成员邵一鸣针对近期外媒报道的加强针相关情况进行了回应。他指出，未来也有可能会像呼吸道传播的其他疾病比如流感一样，每年需要加强，这有待于最后数据的分析。

美国接种新冠病毒疫苗的人群中，仍然有5800例感染新冠病毒，74例死亡，某国外疫苗厂商就表示，在接种完成该公司新冠疫苗后的12个月内民众可能再注射一剂加强针。

针对这一情况，邵一鸣指出，上述5800例是从7000多万人的接种人群当中产生的，所以总的发生率是小于0.1%的。所以说所有的疫苗都不是百分之百的有效，一定会有些人会感染。另外，疫苗的保护效果是分保护感染、保护疾病和保护传播他人这样一、二、三级的，目前绝大部分疫苗保护感染都是在50%到80%的水平，最重要的是保护住院、重症和死亡，一般都在80%以上，这样并不是说明疫苗的效果不好，它的效果是同样好的。除了临床试验的数据，还有很多真实世界研究的大规模的数据不断出现，说明了疫苗的保护率维持在一个很高的水平。所以还是需要人民更积极地接种疫苗，然后达到群体免疫。

关于12个月之后是不是要加强接种，邵一鸣指出，中国现在疫苗使用的总体时限在半年左右，这些数据都在收集和分析的过程当中，各个疫苗厂商，包括各个国家的免疫规划部门都在研究这些数据。按照免疫程序接种后，什么时候需要加强，要根据数据做出科学的决定。所以未来也有可能会像呼吸道传播的其他疾病比如流感一样，每年需要加强，这有待于最后数据的分析。

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