Now, more than 100 people have had to be rescued by Emergency Services as parts of the midlands were hit by more flooding and drivers were caught out by rapidly rising water. There are more than 100 flood warnings currently in place in parts of england and wales. 0ur midlands correspondence reports where the river avon burst its banks. So would you like us to bring you out of the property, because of the water . You would like to be evacuated . Rescue boats have been launched throughout the day in evesham, as water levels on the avon continue to rise. Its been quite a protracted incident for us. Theres been a number of incidents across the county, and this is just one of many that our crews are dealing with currently. The river has reached its highest level since 2007, with only one road through evesham left open. This is one of the main routes through evesham, but half a mile is currently submerged beneath the floodwater. Its meant that many people havent been able to get through to their appointments at the Community Hospital today, and its had to restrict its services. The hereford and worcester fire and rescue service have helped more than 100 people in the past 2a hours, including trevor, who had become trapped inside his own home. I couldnt get out on my own, you know, i tried that earlier on and it was too deep for me to wade through, even with waders on. No such problem for this evesham resident. But with water levels still rising in some places, a number of communities are on stand by. All this water is working its way through, its taking a long time on the big rivers. Its likely its not going to peak at tewkesbury and upton until saturday, possibly sunday. This evening the work continued, as fire officers is pumped water from the cellar of a restaurant to keep the business open on what would be one of its busiest nights. Water levels are dropping in this town, but Emergency Services are preparing for a busy couple of days in communities where rivers are continuing to rise. Sian lloyd, bbc news, evesham. Now on bbc news, there are hopes in washington and beijing that an agreement to help resolve the us china trade war could soon be in sight but this is a rivalry about much more than just a trade. Washington is designed to impress, to convey not just washington is designed to impress, to convey notjust prestige but permanence. Solid, enduring, American Power in architectural form. But behind the marble and granite, policy is always influx. The current has shifted the policy on china 180 degrees. These to be seen as a on china 180 degrees. These to be seen as a potential partner and now it isa seen as a potential partner and now it is a deaf deadly rival. Seen as a potential partner and now it is a deaf deadly rival. This isa it is a deaf deadly rival. This is a playful global supremacy. It is a deaf deadly rival. This is a playful global supremacym really is as stark as that . Element i believe it is, absolutely pulled up i believe it is, absolutely pulled upi i believe it is, absolutely pulled up i believe it is the most consequential threat since the nazi party in world war ii. It has been allowed to go on for decades and it is disgraceful, it is disgraceful. These two nations are locked in the worlds most important rivalry. But what does america want . What is the endgame . Announcer mr donald] trump donald trump talks about china more than any of his predecessors. We cant continue to allow china to rate our country and thatis allow china to rate our country and that is what they are doing. It is the greatest theft in the history of the greatest theft in the history of the world. But a shift in us china policy goes far deeper than a few speeches or late night tweets from the president s bedroom. Sometimes i think there is a mistaken view that the us china policy, the pronounced shift, is based on President Trump. But that is incorrect will stop if you had seen a Clinton Presidency or another republican 2016, you would have seen a sharp turn. Both in the executive branch and capitol hill, a sense that our approach to china was not working and needed a significant change. And just as this isnt only about trump, it isnt only about trade either. The rest of his administration is very focused on the many ways in which china is seen as challenging american interests around the world. Notjust trade. With the help of washington insiders, the person who helped forge this china policy, we are going to try to piece together how american now sees its relationship with china and what the us endgame is. How big a threat is china, do you think, to the western order . |j think you think, to the western order . think it is the most consequential existential threat since the nazi party in world war ii. I think it is far greater threat than the soviet union ever was. It is the number two economy in the world. It has reached particularly into the government and all the institutions of the west. It far exceeds what the soviets could ever. Ever since nixon was the first to travel to the people to in china in1972, to travel to the people to in china in 1972, meetings between the us and china have had a formulaic field. The companionship of the chinese and american people. Always looking forward to better relations. The administration is giving him the kind of treatment over the next week not normally laid on even for a head of state or head of government. We expect that normalisation will help to move us together toward a world of diversity and peace. We believe even greater progress could be made if our future efforts are based on Mutual Respect and mutual benefit. The United States always had the hope that china would become more like the United States, that it would become more liberal, more democratic, not necessarily a democracy, as we think it, but more open and potentially even contribute to the world once it became a bigger economy. But then in quick succession, two major events happened. The 198090 andaman square massacre told the United States that china wasnt going to reform on its own. china wasnt going to reform on its own. 1980 tiananmen square. And then the berlin wall came down, setting it onto the march of oblivion, the soviet union. This set them on the new approach to get china to change. The new policy under president clinton was Market Driven reform. Expose china to the winds of Issue National trade and democracy would come. International. It was, promised mr clinton, a 1 way street. International. It was, promised mr clinton, a 1way street. Getting into a rules based system and promoting economic competition will both enhance the march of liberty and law. And human rights. President clinton succeeded in getting china admitted to the World Trade Organisation, a sort of club of trading a common rulebook. This agreement exchanges membership rights for china in the wto for Economic Opportunities for america and china. 20 years on from those rosy tinted rose garden pronouncements, the world looks very, very different. It is clear now for many in washington that back then, the us simply got china wrong. The way the current us president talks about china and the wto couldnt be more different from his predecessor. The World Trade Organisation needs drastic change. The second largest economy of the world should not be permitted to declare itself a developing country in order to declare itself a developing country in orderto gain declare itself a developing country in order to gain the system game the system at others expense. There are a few areas in which not just president clinton but us Foreign Policy establishment generally got it wrong. One is which these International Institutions had these International Institutions had the power to truly reshape china, that at the end of the day, china was able to find loopholes or slow down punitive action. This is not just in the wto. The wto is perhaps the best example where ultimately these institutions didnt really have the power to compel china to make meaningful change at home. China never really intended to fulfil wto obligations. It is more the case that china intended tojoin multilateral fora and gain voice there. In order not to learn how it is done but in order to begin to shift how Multi National fora regulate global trade. Shift how Multi National fora regulate globaltrade. So shift how Multi National fora regulate global trade. So they joined not to be changed but to chain . Yes. Instead of the us transforming china, the change was the other way round. The result was what economists call the china shock. A huge wage wave of usjobs economists call the china shock. A huge wage wave of us jobs lost and us factories closed. It is devastating for top not only did we lose 13 millionjobs, not only devastating for top not only did we lose 13 million jobs, not only did we lose all our manufacturing capacity to the point where, chinas manufacturing Circuit Boards for the f35, but manufacturing Circuit Boards for the f 35, but also the people losing those, losing help and efforts, losing retirement and efforts. All of that was levied on the state, local and federal governments to ta ke local and federal governments to take care of and then behind that to add insult to injury, not only did they lose their jobs but add insult to injury, not only did they lose theirjobs but the product that came in that they were previously manufacturing were of substandard, they poisoned you, they exploded, they caught on fire. Of course, Chinese Companies would dispute that characterisation of their products. However, the tra nsfer of their products. However, the transfer of jobs was vastly accelerated by decisions made by us companies in search of increased profits. It wasnt the chinese that stole the jobs but because the chart the cost of doing business and producing in china was so much lower than in the United States, Many Companies had closed down factories in the United States and set up factories in china and that was also seen as factories in china and that was also seen as part of this unfair playing field, even though the United States was able to buy products from china much more cheaply than if they had been produced in the United States. Not only did consumers love being able to buy those cheap products but governments appreciated the low cost china option because it helped them keep inflation under control. However, Many American companies that relocated to china rapidly found that low labour costs came at a very high price. It opened up the companies do leveraged by china for their technology. Once the chinese realised that Market Access to china was a goal of us firms and the Chinese Government policy began to suddenly exercise leverage. For decades, ageing as a kind of quid pio decades, ageing as a kind of quid pro quo for western companies having Market Access to china has forced them to hand over their technology, their intellectual property. And for a longtime their intellectual property. And for a long time this was perhaps concerning but not an existential issue for Many Companies, they felt like they could stay multiple steps ahead but ultimately, chinese closing that gap and that is why you see today us policymakers focused on this Technology Transfer issue. See today us policymakers focused on this Technology Transfer issuem the american political system, it is companies that helped bankroll politicians and the parties. 20 yea rs politicians and the parties. 20 years ago, they were begging congress to give them access to that lucrative chinese market. By 2015, though, it was quite the opposite. They were begging the politicians to protect them from china. When companies were finding out that their patterns and things were being rifled through, when their products we re rifled through, when their products were being reverse engineered, when there are indeed processes are being hijacked, more and more companies came to the conclusion that being in china, partnering in china, ultimately was not turning out to be profitable and could actually be downright negative. American corporations found they were pushing atan corporations found they were pushing at an open door. As well as appropriating American Technology throughjoint ventures, appropriating American Technology through joint ventures, the appropriating American Technology throughjoint ventures, the us authorities accused the Chinese Government of stealing industrial and military secrets through hacking and military secrets through hacking and espionage. The mood in washington changed almost overnight. What i noticed was that in the agencies and departments, consensus shifted from engagement means, be patient and let them learn, to oh, my goodness, they are getting way ahead and they are not really showing signs of wanting to learn but rather of taking advantage. Showing signs of wanting to learn but rather of taking advantagem it possible to put a number of of the value of the technology that has been transferred to china over the course of the last 20 years or so . People have begun to look at that Bipartisan Commission called the intellectual Property Commission or the commission on theft of intellectual property, it estimates that the loss of ip is somewhere above between 225 and 600 billion. Also, a separate study estimates that the annual loss from Cyber Espionage is 400 billion so during the folly for years leading up to 2017, at one point 2 trillion. Inside the pentagon, this transfer of technology was seen as a Huge National security risk, so much of us military superiority depends on having exclusive access to us innovation. I had ihada i had a team working at the pentagon from 2014 to 2016 that really looked out, what would a notional National Security strategy look like, but looked at National Security in a globalised, 21st century construct, where data is a strategic resource, where data is a strategic resource, where business and finance really drive geopolitical outcomes, and how do you, how do you begin to think about that in terms of implementing about that in terms of implementing a National Security that is fundamentally different from that of the cold war, even the post cold war . So three crucial constituencies of opinion had shifted. Business community, Government Departments and agencies, and the military, well before donald trump was even confirmed as the nominee for president. He most definitely didnt create this wave of change on china, but he certainly sought to harness it. President trump absolutely road pa rt it. President trump absolutely road part of this backlash because if you are going to have manufacturing moved to china, and out of the United States, if you are going to have hollowing out, where is the benefit, presumably there is supposed to be some benefit for some pa rt supposed to be some benefit for some part of the american economy, but in fa ct part of the american economy, but in fact what has happened is that the companies that reduce their labour costs were nonetheless finding out that the intellectual property is being lost as well. So you pretty much have an across the board reaction. That found china to be less and less desirable as a partner. China and others are making out partner. China and others are making our products. We dont make it anymore. A trump administration. The from leaving america. A lot of the things that he was saying on the campaign trail resonated with what we we re campaign trail resonated with what we were trying to come as we tried to put the pieces in place of what a counter strategy might be, and so it was interesting to note, for me as a strategic, that not only what i was seeing National Security sense, but the american electorate was seeing ina the american electorate was seeing in a social sense, and they were seeing it collectively. The ultimate result of general spaldings worked at the pentagon was arguably the most important policy document of President Trump was my first year in office, the National Security strategy, published in december 2017. With this strategy i am announcing today, we are declaring that america is in the game and america is going to wind. Ultimately the National Security strategy is kind of the leading document for the Us Government and the various departments and agencies take that as their marching orders. And so to have a document of that kind of high level nature, very fairly calling us china is a strategic compared to, making an argument that there was a competition of systems between a kind of liberal rules based order this is a kind of repressive autocratic order that china was trying to enforce, but was highly significant, especially in how it guides how the Us Government as a whole is executing china policy. So it was a major shift from the past. The first Government Departments to incorporate the new china policy was defence. The us and china are locked in an increasingly hostile competition in the south china sea, where china has built and militarised a string of artificial islands in defiance of international law. The us responded very slowly. It took a longtime before they fully appreciated what china was building. By appreciated what china was building. By the time china had really started militarising these islands, it was too late for the United States to respond, and nobody wanted to go to war with china over what they cold reefs and rocks in the south china sea. 5. 3 trillion of trade transits through the south china sea, very near the spratlys. Chinas actions were, ina near the spratlys. Chinas actions were, in a sense, an attempt to be able to cut the carotid artery of global trade. So able to cut the carotid artery of globaltrade. So many of able to cut the carotid artery of global trade. So many of the conversations i have had in the city boil down to one concern, but chinas rises now just boil down to one concern, but chinas rises nowjust too rapid for the United States to manage. Like those islands that appeared almost out of nowhere, there is a sense that unless the us gets a grip on the china challenge, and soon, it might well become unmanageable. The stated Chinese Government policy is to dominate emerging technologies like robotics and ai. This truly was a wake up call for washington, but china had said so explicitly that it wa nts to china had said so explicitly that it wants to dominate these technologies. This is very core to the competition now between the United States and china, because if china were to succeed in these areas, then it probably would supplant the us as the leading power in the world. Information technology and otheremerging in the world. Information technology and other emerging technologies are going to be keys to Global Economic power, and so either working out a better global system of agreement and cooperation, or establishing supremacy, either or a combination of the both, absolutely critical to survival of any major country, and the United States in particular. Which is one of the reasons the Us Government is so concerned about having Chinese Companies like huawei involved in crucial technologies like 56. Involved in crucial technologies like 5g. How secure do you really think you can be when your physical hardware of your Information Networks are manufactured by china . The american conclusion is, we cannot be sure. And policymakers in washington are increasingly worried about the pressure exerted on us Companies Trading with china. The nba Companies Trading with china. The n ba fa ces Companies Trading with china. The nba faces a major backlash this morning. In recent weeks, the Us Basketball League the nba has apologised to china after the manager of one club tweeted support for the protesters in hong kong. The us Vice President , mike pence, is a long standing critic of china, and is now critical of us companies he says are is now critical of us companies he says a re kowtowi ng is now critical of us companies he says are kowtowing to china. In siding with the Chinese Communist party and silencing free speech, the nba is acting like a wholly owned subsidiary of the authoritarian regime. For some, though, the main problem isnt so much chinas influence over the us, but other parts of the world. What you see todayis parts of the world. What you see today is not only china perfecting technologies for surveillance and censorship at home, but increasingly exporting these technologies as well as finance and know how abroad. So, example, you see china working in east africa with governments, or the indo pacific as well. So this kind of issue of what might be called high tech liberalism or high tech authoritarianism is one but i think will become more and more sensual as we talk about china in the future. For some, the right approach, the only approach to these difficult questions, is decoupling, severing economic ties with china. How do we get Companies Like apple to actually not censor speech because they are incentivised by the Chinese Communist party to do so . We have to limit their ability to have access to the chinese market, if that is the key influencer. You have to limit their ability to have access to chinese investment, if that is a key factor. There is a lot of things that go into why the apple board would essentially allow an American Company to would essentially allow an american com pa ny to slowly would essentially allow an American Company to slowly adopt the principles of totalitarianism, and once you begin to unwind those from a policy perspective, then the incentives start to go away, and when the incentives go away, behaviour begins to change. In response to general spaldings comments, apple referred to this statement. President trump is clearly delighted to have the beginnings of an outlined trade to deal with china, posing with the chinese vice premier in the Oval Office Last month. But nobody i have spoken to in washington thinks that this will make much difference to the direction of travel in relations. For example, while the president is making positive noises, in another pa rt making positive noises, in another part of washington, the fbi director is telling congress that the cyber war with china rages on. The fbi has over 1000 investigations involving attempted theft of us based technology that lead back to china. When you look at what the Us Trade Representatives Office has focused on, and the issues that have stymied progress in the actual negotiations, it has always come down to ip. So if the chinese do not make a serious effort and demonstrate a serious efforts to reduce their non compliance with intellectual property, i dont see any change in the state of trade relations, and that will lead to a further deterioration of us china relations. The us relationship with china has gone through many transitions over the past 50 years. But it is now fundamentally about global power. Who will control the emerging technologies of the coming century . As viewed from washington, this is a fight from the future that america cant afford to lose. Theres some more rain in the forecast this weekend, but hopefully not as much as we have seen in recent days or throughout the autumn so far. Its looking like some places may well break records. Sheffield this autumn is very close to the previous record. In nottingham, provisional figures suggest that we may just have exceeded the previous autumn record. There is a bit more of autumn to come, of course. And through this weekend, some more showery rain in the forecast but also some drier and brighter interludes. Its quite a complex weather pattern, low pressure across continental europe. This frontal system in the west, the two making something of a pincer movement, bringing areas of cloud and showery rain in our direction. In between, well, a slice of clear skies, under which its a cold start for Northern Ireland and scotland, some frost in places and fog patches as well across northern scotland, some of which could be quite slow to clear. We start off with some brighter skies in the north west of the uk. Its likely to cloud over as the day wears on. Through southern and eastern scotland into Northern England and parts of the midlands, we will see splashes of rain at times, the odd shower dangling down into pembrokeshire and cornwall. In the south east of england, showers, but a decent chance of seeing brighter weather through the day. Another chilly day but not as windy as it has been. As you can see through saturday night, we continue to see these areas of cloud and showery rain floating around the map, into sunday, it is likely we will see some showery rain at times through Northern England and down into parts of the midland and wales. Some of that rain could be on the heavy side, still some showers dangling into pembrokeshire and cornwall. Brightening up for Northern Ireland and scotland through the day. Still single digit temperatures for most of us. As we move out of sunday and into monday, here comes a little bump in the isobars, a little ridge of high pressure, and that should settle things down for the start of the new working week. Monday is going to be a day when we do get to dry out, yes, this brisk northerly wind will bring some showers into north sea coastal counties, but for the majority, it is dry, there is some sunshine, it is still going to feel quite chilly. As we head deep into the week it does turn more unsettled. Rain, which will be heaviest in the west. It will often be windy, but it will start to turn a bit milder. This is bbc news, im simon pusey. Our top stories Prince Andrew breaks his silence on thejeffrey epstein scandal in an exclusive bbc interview. Buckingham palace denies all allegations of inappropriate behaviour. The former American Ambassador to ukraine tells the impeachment inquiry President Trump was manipulated by corrupt foreign interests. Hello and welcome to bbc news. Prince andrew has answered questions for the first time about his relationship with the financiers