Brexit : A Comparison To Asia

For those of you who are unaware of what Brexit is, it is the equivalent of buying a gun and pointing it at your foot and pulling the trigger. Brexit came about when the then British Prime Minster David Cameron, who was facing opposition from his own party, called for a referendum as to whether or not Britain (Britain Exit- Bre-xit) would leave the European Union.

The vote went to the British public who had, on their ballet, two options Yes or No. Such things are incredibly complex and this is something which the British politicians soon found out.

After the vote went 51/49% in favour of leaving, David Cameron resigned and was caught on camera whistling after he announced his resignation. Fast forward almost three years to the Brexit deadline put in place by current British Prime Minister Theresa May and no one is any clearer on what is happening.

The deadline has passed and there is still to be a clear understanding of what Brexit actually means (despite Mrs May saying ‘Brexit means Brexit’…). The four options are:

1. To leave without a deal
2. To agree a deal with the European Union
3. To have another referendum (vote)
4. To cancel Brexit

The reason why Brexit is so complicated can be seen in current expansion by China, recreating the ‘Silk Road’, an ancient collection of trade routes between the East and West. Such things are even more complex than they were then, for although there are better infrastructures, for example the new Hong Kong to Zhuha bridge, there are many regulations, such as customs unions etc., the sort of things which takes decades to create and decades to disband.

Reporting by The New York Times suggests that the European Union (EU) will now extend the Brexit deadline to October, simply because the EU has more business than Brexit that it needs to focus on.    

It goes without saying that Brexit is far more complicated than is said here and, in my opinion, I don’t think anyone actually understands what it actually means. One of the biggest concerns is with the freedom of movement.

England is currently home to many Chinese students, 14% of all students are from without the EU, and the experiences and education that the Chinese students experience means that they return to China with a richer understanding of the world and the skills to help Asia grow in terms of business, economics and culturally.

This one small example, which is not remotely small, starts to give you an idea of how big Brexit is, how complicated and how, objectively, stupid the vote was and shows the significance of having knowledge before making decisions.

I have no idea, nor does anyone, how this will end up but we can only cross our fingers (a habit which supposedly brings about good luck) and pray that it is not as bad as it seems.