For dateline london. Hello and welcome to dateline london. Im martine croxall. This week, we look at britains new cabinet. We ask, has the Uk Government announced enough measures to protect people from covid, flu and a national Health Service Crisis over the winter . And we look at two under reported events. North koreas launch of Cruise Missiles which can hitjapan, certainly alarming news. And possibly good news, iran is letting back in the un Nuclear Inspectors. Our guests henry chu, of the Los Angeles times, who has spent many years reporting from china and the far east. The indian Commentator And Journalist ashis rae, who takes a particular interest in the uk, on which he reports back home to india and the near east. And joining us in the studio still suitably distanced, we know the drill, dont we . Celia hatton, the bbc� s asia pacific editor. Welcome to you all. And our own dear leader, our editor nick guthrie, has really rammed the programme to the gunnels this week, so we will see how much we can shoehorn in. The Prime Minister here, borisjohnson, has reshuffled his cabinet and perhaps the most striking change is that he has made Liz Truss only the second female Foreign Secretary ever. So, ashis, lets start with you. What, in your view, should be in her very full In Tray . Well, theres a lot happening in the world, starting from afghanistan to east asia, to the middle east, not to mention relations with the United States, which could be better. So, she certainly has a lot in her In Tray. I was a bit surprised that she was elevated. She perhaps deserves it. On the other hand, this talk about her having performed brilliantly as international Trade Secretary was, i think, a little exaggerated because apart from the japan deal that she did, i think the others are not so substantive or significant. With australia, yes, it could be a middle Level Deal and it will be a middle Level Deal but the enhanced Trade Partnership with india is a damp squib and i do not see any indication of a Trade Deal that is a free Trade Agreement with the United States being imminent. So, having said that, i think the foreign Office Portfolio is a very heavyweight portfolio. I think her predecessor did not cover himself with glory by being missing in action when kabul was falling to the taliban, so she has a lot of Repair Work to do. As i said, her tray is absolutely full. I think it is also the relationship with, although this is handled by lord frost, it is the relationship with the European Union which we mustnt forget because after all, it is still a very, very important relationship. And there again, i think, the Little Frostiness that has crept in, i think needs to be taken Care Of. Well, whatever we think. Well, i dont think anything, of course, i would never express an opinion. But whatever people think of the Trade Deals, henry, that she has struck, she has clearly been rewarded with one of the great offices of state. What is she going to have to do to breathe life into that so called Special Relationship between the uk and the us, if Joe Biden even cares about it . Well, ithinkJoe Biden definitely is an atlanticist and does care about the relationship with britain and also europe as a whole, notjust the uk. I think Liz Truss is actually in a fairly good position at the moment, purely by dint of timing. She probably will go with prime Minister Borisjohnson next week to New York for the un general assembly, which is a big stage upon which to make a splash, her very first trip as Foreign Secretary. Also, we know that Liz Truss has actually been fairly hawkish about china. She is certainly outspoken about the use of forced labour in xinjiang and looks at china really as a competitor and potential adversary. And that, actually, is quite hand in glove with what the biden administration has as its priorities in terms of dealing with china and checking its rise as a competitor and also a potential adversary. You know, just a couple of days ago, that deal between australia, britain and the us in which australia will be provided with nuclear powered submarines made a big splash, as it were, and that is something that dominic raab, Liz Trusss predecessor, worked on but she is the one who can now implement it and in a sense take some of the credit for it because she will be the public face of that deal and that is already a sign that the us and the uk are on the same page, at least on that score. When it comes to that Trade Agreement that ashis talked about, that though, i think, will be on the Back Burner for the biden administration and has been since brexit happened and it is not going to actually take place anytime soon, so that will be a bit more difficult for her. The Security Pact that henry was talking about there, celia, known as aukus, because its between australia, the uk and the United States, its upset france and, as henry said, its upset china as well. So Liz Truss, do you think she might have to change her approach to china now it is not just about trade, but it is about diplomacy too . Absolutely. And Liz Truss also famously said that she is not a diplomat. Shes proven herself. To be a loyal supporter of borisjohnson. Shes proven herself to really be a cheerleader when it comes to Uk Trade but is she a diplomat . Can she forge alliances . Now, as henry said, she has been quite hawkish on china, criticising china. But the uk also really i needs china, particularly on the issue of climate change. You know, this is a key time when the uk really is trying i to be reaching out to beijing, ahead of cop26, and i think. That is also going to be on her plate a little bit as well. She cant simply. Throw up criticism. Shes going to find, whether she wants to be a diplomat or not, she has to forge a path forward. I thank you. Borisjohnson has revealed a light Touch Plan a and a tougher Plan B to tackle covid in england this winter. And many suspect that the uk is bracing itself for another grim few months. But is his plan enough . Hospitalisations are up, diagnosed cases of covid are still high. Parts of the national Health Service already say that they are under strain. It is worth repeating that the different nations of the united kingdom run their own covid policies because health is part of their devolved powers. Henry, looking into what Boris Johnson is trying to do to get britain through relatively unscathed this coming winter, how well does it look like he is doing . Well, this government has been plagued from the beginning with very poor messaging, or very confusing messaging, in terms of what needs to be done. Except at the very beginning of the pandemic with the lockdowns, where i think a lot of the public were on board with putting on masks, not going outside except for essential trips. People have now sort of set that aside, partly because the government has said use your ownjudgment. And i think that is nice to a certain degree but we, as the public, dont have access to all the same kind of scientific data that the government does and that it says it is following, so that is also why we elect officials to make some of these judgments for us. And so i think there have been some missteps already, where very basic and very easy policies such as encouraging continued mask wearing or even mandating it, has it been done . I mean, that is extremely low impact it doesnt really affect people in terms of their going about their daily lives very much and yet this government has not really stressed that. And even here in london, where we live, when i go onto the tube and the buses, where it is still supposedly mandatory for people to wear masks, plenty of folks are not any more adhering to that. So i think the government at least knows that it might have a tough time ahead. It does have a Plan B but its plan a, i think right now, is relying a little bit on a hope and a prayer and it better hope that its Plan B is fairly robust to take Care Of it when the hopes and prayers dont actually get answered. Ashis, we have also seen several countries have been told that they are going to come off britains so called red travel list, which will be music to their ears. A Clear Signalfrom the Uk Government that they really do want to be open for business again but how wise is it, given the rates in some parts of the world . Well, certainly it is a matter of concern but at the same time, clear signals is always welcome, ratherthan confusing signals. Too many lights and one light going off at one time and the other one coming on. These things i think confuse people and are disincentives for people to travel. And that being a little bit clearer, i guess, at least it will become clearer from next month, i think is helpful. But having said that, i think there are many countries from where one has to be careful as far as passengers are coming in are concerned. And there i think the checks will remain. I think the Testing Regimes will stay in place but there will be an easing off, so the Amber Light is now out of the way. It is either somebody on the Red List or a country where i think you are permitted to travel. I think this is something which is welcome. I would tend to agree with henry that the first set of proposals for the winter are a light Touch Set of proposals and i dare say, mandatory mask wearing and certainly something a little bit tougher, maybe these passports, the covid passports they are talking about, may be a good idea. Although i do believe that if you stop people from going to work and say that you work from home, then that does affect the economy. It will affect the revenues of the transport systems, it will affect revenues in the areas in the office districts and so on. So i suppose that could be a Last Resort but, i certainly believe that mask wearing should be made mandatory. Celia, here in the united kingdom, there has been a massive push for people to be vaccinated. Adults first, then older teenagers and now young teenagers, 12 15. We are seeing massive differences though around the world, particularly the parts of the world that you cover and how much vaccine is available. That is right and really,. When it comes to countries like the uk, rich, developed countries that are really relying on vaccinesl and the distribution of vaccines to keep virus. Levels down that might help them domestically but really, that is not going to help to. Solve the pandemic globally. You know, there is an estimate that really, until 50 75 of the population of the whole planet has been vaccinated i we are not going to see i an end to this pandemic. Poor countries, many really low income countries, around 2 of people in poor. Countries have been vaccinated so there is still such along way to go so it is very difficult when the uk has really only delivered 7 i of the vaccines that it promised the vaccine sharing scheme, to continue relying on vaccines throughout the winter i think there was a lot of hope that really we will begin to share some of those vaccines globally. I were about to start the third Booster Round in this country. In other people are really lagging behind to a lack of supply. Thank you very much. Lets turn to North Korea. It has launched a number of Test Missiles this week, one of which experts think could carry a nuclear warhead and reach japan. This is despite sanctions, a collapsed economy, hunger, poverty and closed borders. Celia, how concerned should the international community be, particularly North Koreas neighbours, about what they have been testing . Absolutely. I think we should be very concerned. Not in the short term. I think things will continue as they will. North korea will continue testing, it will continue l calling for an end to i sanctions, i dont think anything is going to change but in the medium term i think there is a lot to be concerned about. I whether North Korea we have had reportsjust this week of farmers complaining that these are coming i in to steal their Crops L from the fields in order to simply feed themselves i or to go and sell their crops at market because people are so hungry around 40 of the country,. We think, isnt getting enough to eat on a regular basis. So there is that. This is a country that has been to through drought and then. Torrential rains in august so really it has suffered a lot. Its a country that was i the first country to shut its borders at the start of the Pandemic And L really hasnt reopened to trade at all. So this is a country that are suffering, that is getting a little bit desperate. At the same time, regional tensions are quite high. We talk about North Korea testing weapons but South Korea has also tested weapons just this past week. They tested their first submarine launched i ballistic missile. They are investing billions i in their own military Build Up because the South Koreans really believe they cannot. Trust the United States for support any more i following the tumultuous Trump Administration so tensions are rising and tensions arising with china as well which was i always North Koreas ally. We should not ignore the fact that the chinese Foreign Minister was visiting South Korea right when North Korea tested its missiles this week so really it is kind of North Korea for thumbing its nose at china saying we are not that concerned about you. Or, perhaps pay attention i to us, you better start lifting sanctions, giving us a. Settings are not looking good. Tensions are high within North Korea and tensions are high in we have already mentioned aukus, this Security Pact. China is not happy, as we have said. How can those partners then expect china to come to the rescue over North Korea if it has that influence to bear when they are at odds with each other over the Security Pact. It is all immensely complicated. The relationship itself, just the relationship i is immensely complicated. On the face of it, china is consistently saying that it would like a peaceful diplomatic Solution L to the issues on the Koreani Peninsula and it repeats this again and again. But privately we know that tensions are quite high between the two countries. For example, china has not given North Korea i any direct vaccines. They have only promised them through the Kovacs Scheme i and some contacts of mine in the region who are quite well placed have said they think this is because china simply does. Not trust the North Koreans to distribute vaccines equitably. They want them to be delivered through a global scheme and so it is not looking good| for beijing to be able to step in and calm tensions. With pyongyang soon. Henry, how concerned willJoe Biden be about what Kimjong Un has been doing . Was he regarded as a genuine nuclear Threat Or Visit leveraged for some kind of economic help . I think the us has always been concerned about North Korea and what it might do with its weaponry especially now that it has missiles that look like they can actually hit the continental us even as far as New York. So the threat of pyongyang is something that is always present in any administrations mines. In the time that biden has been president , North Korea has had two of these tests. One in march and now here this past week. I think as a signal to the us, as celia was saying, look at us. We will still need your attention but we want to Sanctions Relief that you have been promising. In your intro you said that despite these elements of the pandemic, hardship and the closed border, in fact in some ways because of these things, Kimjong Un realises there is perhaps humanitarian disaster unfolding yet again his country and so to deflect some of that attention and also to find a solution to it he is waving at the us, waving and saying you need to look at us again and turn your attention back to us. And i think that is also true for South Korea because, as celia was saying, not only are they a little bit more distrustful now of the us. The president there has come under criticism from others that he has been too soft on North Korea and so he needs also to cater to his domestic constituency to show that he is trying to be a little bit tougher and bolstering South Koreas defences and no longer relying only on that us nuclear umbrella. There was a poll there that said 70 of South Koreans actually believe that they are in favour of developing their own nuclear weapons instead of relying on the us. So there are these domestic factors at play in both north and south. Ashis, whatever happened to non nuclear proliferation . It is a difficult thing for some countries to criticise when they have their own nuclear ambitions. First of all i think president Donald Trump called the North Korean problem could be solved by creating real Estate Wealth in North Korea. That didnt really work. But more seriously, i think both aukus, the new trilateral Defence Treaty between australia, the uk and the United States and the four Nations Treaty between the United States, australia, India And Japan need to take into account the danger caused by North Korea. Not just restrict themselves to the threat posed by china because the Loose Cannon that is North Korea is, i think, far worse potentially than china. China we know because china has ambitions and it has militaristic ambitions as well. But as far as North Korea is concerned, they can do things just to attract attention and much of these testings that we have seen are aimed at that. They want some kind of other countries coming to them and collaborating and saying that, all right, we will give you this and that so please dont continue with your tests. So having said that, one should mention that they tested both ballistic and Cruise Missiles. Cruise missiles, although they take longer to deliver, they have certain capabilities. First of all, they are more difficult to detect at launch and secondly, they are able to manoeuvre themselves and therefore when attacked i think they can escape attacks in certain situations, so they are certainly developing their missile technology. They have obviously got their nuclear Weapon Technology from pakistan in a Quid Pro Quo in 1993 when pakistan was given the technology and the world is not exactly a safer place as a result of that deal. And secondly, they are able to manoeuvre themselves and therefore when attacked i think they can escape attacks in certain situations, so they are certainly developing their missile technology. They have obviously got their nuclear Weapon Technology from pakistan in a Quid Pro Quo in 1993 when pakistan was given the technology and the world is not exactly a safer place as a result of that deal. Ashis, thank you very much. The new regime in iran has decided to let the un Nuclear Inspectors back in to make sure their monitoring devices are all working. A small step perhaps. Henry, you watch these departments closely. How good an omen is this . Well, i think with iran, as well as with North Korea, sometimes it is one step back. Sometimes two steps back. I think this allowance of the monitoring cameras, the un Inspection Camera is to have new Memory Cards placed on them, that is a good step and that a show that tehran is trying to show willing a little bit in terms of being back under international inspection. But we should also remember that this was partly to escape the censure that was going to be coming from the international atomic energy association, where they were going to actually criticise iran from what seemed to be obstruction in letting inspectors actually monitor and verify what was going on so there was a little bit of Self Interest in that and equally, some of the appointments that iran has been making to its new Foreign Ministry under the new president , a lot of them are hardliners who opposed the nuclear accord from five years ago. And dont necessarily look like theyre going to be for resuming it. But lets hope that there will be Wiser Heads and more moderate heads that will prevail in the larger scheme of things both the us has now said we are willing to make some compromises on the difficult issues as long as iran is willing to do the same. Hopefully, tehran will take that signal and they will actually announce the resumption of a seventh round of talks which we have all been waiting for over the last few months. How surprising would that be, ashis, then, this hardliner, the president , who only took office last month, the fact that they could really be a softening of stance towards this whole issue . Countries will never believe that iran is to be trusted. I am not optimistic in the near term and certainly, what we have in iran now, in terms of the new government is notjust a conservative government but also a government which is virtually an extension of the establishment which really rules the country. And that being the case the hardline will continue. What they have permitted, and i do admit is monitoring of their nuclear plants, but that said, there is a dispute which remains to be resolved and that dispute is about undeclared, unexplained Uranium Particles found by the international atomic Energy Agency and that, iran continues to deny. Whereas those particles have been found by the agency and they are in talks at the moment but there does not seem to be an immediate agreement as far as the current talks are concerned. That is a problem and as far as reviving the treaty which was the major nuclear deal in which several countries were involved and which were sabotaged by President Trump in 2018, i think that will be a more difficult one to revive because it will mean a lot of give and take. Before that can happen. Celia, iran is only too aware who its enemies are, so where is it going to be drawing support from . I think, we are really in an era of alliance. Diplomacy, are meant to be . As iran is dealing with its enemies, just think that the iaea, it does have reaching out to it or prospective friends. Just Today China and russia endorsed irans Future Membership in the shanghai cooperation organisation. I now, this is a Regional Organisation that likes to call itself the alliance of the east and it is basically the Central Asian countries, india, pakistan, russia and china. They have been meeting this week and they have invited l formally iran to join. Or China And Russia had endorsed the Future Membership and as they are the two main members they have a good l chance ofjoining. This organisationl is quite powerful. They have joint military exercises, they share l intelligence, they deal. With counterterrorism so, yes, iran certainly, even though it is dealing with enemies, it is also making some friends. I thank you very much. Four subjects, three correspondents, we did it. That is all we have time for this week. Thanks to our guests. Do join us again next week. Same time, same place. Thanks to you for watching. Goodbye. Hello there. We start this new week off on a fine note thanks to high Pressure Efficiency quite a bit of sunshine around and do feel quite warm in the afternoon. Both today and into tuesday. Then towards The End of the week, we will see an active jets spin up deep areas of low pressure which could bring more autumnal to our shores. Gales and outbreaks of rain will feel cooler too. For today, Scotts Mother from pushing to the northwest of scotland, Yesterdays Weather Front still straddling, East Anglia in the southeast with quite a bit of cloudy times, some showers around, the Odd Heavy One too. And it starts a bit wetter for Northwest Scotland through the day with a few showers for Northern Ireland. The best of the sunshine, slightly to central portions of the uk but well see highs of 21 degrees. Generally into the high teens the way we have more cloud. As we head through monday night, the Weather Fronts in the northwest Sink Southeast words, fizzling out leaving no more than a band of cloud and maybe the odd shower. Eventually, we lose that Weather Front across East Anglia in the southeast. Where skies clear will be quite cool, single Digits Butjust holding onto the cloud around ten to maybe 12 degrees. So, we start tuesday off of our area of high pressure dominating the scene, but we have a deep low spinning up to the north of the uk. Lots of isobars here, but it will be quite windy across the northern half of the uk, cloud coming and going for the northwest of scotland and maybe just a few showers, particularly by The End of the day with the rest of the country. England and wales, england scotland a Lovely Day with temperatures reaching 20 degrees aberdeen 2i or 22 further south. We start to see some changes after tuesday. Our area of high pressure begins to pull away and allows this deep low in the north to influence our weather and indeed wednesday is the autumn equinox. It will be feeling more autonomy mental across the uk. A band of Rain Spreading into scotland and Northern Ireland followed by sunshine and blustery shadows of the gales developing in the north. A breezy day as well to the south of this rain band. For much of england but another fine one getting the sunshine out, temperatures 20 to 22 degrees feeling quite warm for that wednesday it looks like being the last day because behind his mother fronted to Thursday Temperatures drop a deep blow, spins up across the north of the uk we think that will bring widespread gales. Its turning cooler across all areas. Thursday and friday will be windy particularly across the north of the uk with gales and outbreaks of rain. This is bbc News Welcome if youre watching here in the uk or around the globe. Im david eades. 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