Latest / The Morning Edition / Now, it’s Putin’s turn. Will Xi Jinping encourage Russia to end the Ukraine war?

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Now, it’s Putin’s turn. Will Xi Jinping encourage Russia to end the Ukraine war? · The Morning Edition

• 0:07
  S1: Russian President Vladimir Putin has landed in China to meet
• 0:10
  S1: with XI Jinping, only days after the Chinese leader hosted
• 0:14
  S1: American President Donald Trump. But will Putin swoon like a
• 0:19
  S1: teenager on a date in a nice restaurant when he's
• 0:21
  S1: with XI Jinping, as Trump reportedly did? I'm Samantha Salinger Morris,
• 0:27
  S1: and you're listening to The Morning Edition from The Age
• 0:29
  S1: and The Sydney Morning Herald. Today, international and political editor
• 0:34
  S1: Peter Hartcher on the historic concessions that Trump has made
• 0:37
  S1: to China and what Putin is hoping to get out
• 0:41
  S1: of XI Jinping. It's May the 21st. Welcome back, Peter.
• 0:51
  S2: Pleasure to be with you, Samantha.
• 0:53
  S1: Okay, Peter, I'm hoping you can walk us through the
• 0:55
  S1: most consequential results of the summit that Donald Trump had
• 0:59
  S1: with XI Jinping last week. Some moments seemed even surprising
• 1:03
  S1: to me, even for Trump, so I can't wait to
• 1:05
  S1: hear what you think. So let's start with what Trump
• 1:08
  S1: told a reporter on Air Force One after the summit,
• 1:11
  S1: when the American president was asked if he raised the
• 1:15
  S1: issue of China's cyber security campaign against the U.S. with
• 1:19
  S1: XI Jinping.
• 1:21
  S2: Well, he said he did. But this is Trump. So
• 1:26
  S2: it's in an unconventional way. He said that he had
• 1:30
  S2: discussed it and that he said, you're talking about spying.
• 1:33
  S2: He said, we spy on them like hell.
• 1:37
  S3: The question was asked to me yesterday, I guess, what
• 1:41
  S3: about the fact that China's spying in the United States?
• 1:43
  S3: I said, well, it's one of those things because we
• 1:46
  S3: spy like hell on them, too.
• 1:48
  S2: So he said that he'd said to XI Jinping, we're
• 1:52
  S2: doing stuff to you that you probably don't know about,
• 1:54
  S2: and you're doing stuff to us that we probably do
• 1:56
  S2: know about. He said. You know, we're all he said
• 1:59
  S2: to the reporters, you know, we're all we're doing stuff
• 2:02
  S2: to them. They're doing stuff to us now as a
• 2:05
  S2: statement of fact, it's hard to fault it because that's
• 2:08
  S2: exactly what goes on and has been going on for
• 2:11
  S2: for decades. But as a political and national position for
• 2:16
  S2: a US president, it's a remarkable thing to say because
• 2:20
  S2: of the equivalence it grants the two countries. The two
• 2:22
  S2: efforts are. And it's like very early on, Trump was
• 2:28
  S2: asked a question in his last term, asked a question
• 2:30
  S2: about Vladimir Putin, about how he was going to treat Putin.
• 2:35
  S2: And somebody said to him, Putin is a killer. And
• 2:39
  S2: Trump's response was, well, do you think we're so pure?
• 2:43
  S2: So once again, it's Trump putting the US putting himself
• 2:47
  S2: on the same footing as the dictator of Russia and
• 2:51
  S2: the dictator of China and the two countries national purposes
• 2:55
  S2: and efforts on the same footing a complete equivalence. This
• 3:00
  S2: is a break with all us practice. Does it? Does
• 3:06
  S2: it advance the US national position to effectively be excusing
• 3:11
  S2: aggressive moves by the Russians, the Chinese against the US?
• 3:16
  S2: I don't think so. And you know, Trump openly says, oh,
• 3:21
  S2: maybe they're doing nasty stuff to us and we're doing
• 3:23
  S2: it to them. A few years ago, I asked Mike Rogers.
• 3:26
  S2: Mike Rogers was the American admiral who headed the National
• 3:30
  S2: Security Agency and was simultaneously head of their cyber war
• 3:34
  S2: and cyber defense institutions. I said, is it true that
• 3:40
  S2: the Chinese and the Russians are burying malware deep inside
• 3:46
  S2: the controlling infrastructure for your critical, critical systems in the US?
• 3:52
  S2: You know, everything from.
• 3:55
  S1: Transport.
• 3:56
  S2: Aerospace. Transport. Water supply. Satellite controls. And do you know.
• 4:03
  S2: Do you know what he said to me? Mike Rogers said,
• 4:06
  S2: we'll only know when they push the button.
• 4:11
  S1: Wow.
• 4:11
  S2: He said, we have no idea how. We said, we
• 4:13
  S2: know they do it. We don't know how extensive it
• 4:15
  S2: is or where it is. So this is how deep,
• 4:18
  S2: how deeply they've been infiltrated to the point where they
• 4:21
  S2: lost track. Wow. And they allowed their defenses to be
• 4:25
  S2: overcome in the cyber realm. And now Trump seems incapable
• 4:29
  S2: of doing anything to defend or advance the American interests
• 4:33
  S2: and simply makes excuses for it. And we even saw
• 4:38
  S2: reporting from the summit that Donald Trump had with XI Jinping. Apparently,
• 4:43
  S2: Donald Trump said to XI Jinping that he the three
• 4:47
  S2: the two of them should get together with Vladimir Putin
• 4:50
  S2: to work against the International Criminal Court Uh, that they
• 4:55
  S2: all hate it and they should work to try and
• 4:57
  S2: defeat it. Uh, go to war against it was the
• 5:00
  S2: expression I think he was reported to have used. So
• 5:04
  S2: Vladimir Putin already has an arrest warrant issued against him
• 5:07
  S2: by the International Criminal Court. Um, the other two don't.
• 5:10
  S2: But it tells you not only that, um, Trump might
• 5:14
  S2: be worried about his his future, but that and not
• 5:19
  S2: that the US has ever recognized the jurisdiction of the
• 5:21
  S2: International Criminal Court. But it also tells you that at
• 5:24
  S2: some personal and political level, he identifies with these guys
• 5:28
  S2: more than he does with Democratic leaders.
• 5:31
  S1: Which brings us to the news today as we're recording
• 5:33
  S1: on Wednesday, because, of course, President Vladimir Putin has landed
• 5:37
  S1: in Beijing to meet with XI Jinping. So do we
• 5:39
  S1: know what they're planning on discussing? And should we read
• 5:41
  S1: anything into the timing of this visit? I understand that
• 5:44
  S1: it's been long in the works, this meeting, but that
• 5:46
  S1: it was only confirmed hours after Trump wrapped up his
• 5:50
  S1: visit to Beijing. So tell us what to make of this.
• 5:53
  S2: Well, he's looking for a big deal. There's already a
• 5:57
  S2: big gas pipeline that runs from Russia into China. It's
• 6:01
  S2: been running for about 6 or 7 years now. It's
• 6:03
  S2: called the power of Siberia. One. Putin is now pushing
• 6:07
  S2: hard to get a second massive gas pipeline. The first
• 6:11
  S2: one supplies around 10% of China's total natural gas needs,
• 6:16
  S2: and another, another one. Power of Siberia, two imaginatively named,
• 6:20
  S2: would deliver about the same or a bit more gas
• 6:23
  S2: from Russia. Putin is sweating on this deal. He needs
• 6:27
  S2: this deal. Beijing has signed on to a memorandum of understanding.
• 6:32
  S2: Let's go ahead. But has yet to commit because there
• 6:37
  S2: the Chinese haven't agreed to the price. So a trip
• 6:41
  S2: by Putin to China in the first half of the
• 6:44
  S2: year was on the books. That was going to happen
• 6:46
  S2: at some point, but this date was only fixed recently
• 6:50
  S2: and it is no coincidence that Putin wants to talk
• 6:54
  S2: to XI Jinping shortly after the Trump visit. Uh, mainly
• 6:59
  S2: to find out what's going on, what what XI Jinping
• 7:04
  S2: might have learned, and specifically whether XI Jinping had given
• 7:07
  S2: any encouragement or succor or discouragement to Donald Trump. We
• 7:13
  S2: know from the Financial Times reporting that XI Jinping had
• 7:18
  S2: said to Donald Trump, it may be that Putin comes
• 7:22
  S2: to regret his invasion of Ukraine. Now, that's a pretty
• 7:26
  S2: powerful statement from a country. Beijing has said that Putin
• 7:30
  S2: must not be allowed to lose the war against Ukraine,
• 7:34
  S2: so that a few years ago. And now here's XI
• 7:36
  S2: Jinping saying he might come to regret it. This is
• 7:39
  S2: hardly the staunch defense of an ally that Putin would expect.
• 7:42
  S2: And I'm imagining that that reporting would have made him
• 7:45
  S2: a bit anxious.
• 7:47
  S1: So tell us a bit a bit about that, because
• 7:48
  S1: we know that Western countries have been urging Beijing to
• 7:52
  S1: pressure Moscow into ending this war. And we also know
• 7:55
  S1: that Moscow is heavily dependent on Beijing economically. China is
• 7:58
  S1: the main buyer of sanctioned Russian oil. So do we anticipate. Again,
• 8:02
  S1: I'm asking you to pull out your crystal ball here, Peter,
• 8:05
  S1: which is horrible. But I'm going to press ahead. I mean,
• 8:07
  S1: could XI Jinping be pressuring Putin to end this war?
• 8:13
  S2: It's we don't know. Yeah. My crystal ball gets cloudy
• 8:18
  S2: at that at that moment. But we do know that
• 8:23
  S2: Vladimir Putin fears that he probably doesn't have a lot
• 8:27
  S2: to fear on that score. But in a video that
• 8:31
  S2: he prerecorded and published while he was en route to Beijing,
• 8:36
  S2: he did say he talked up the relationship at an
• 8:39
  S2: unprecedented level. The usual, usual guff. But there was a
• 8:43
  S2: specific phrase where he said that this relationship is based
• 8:47
  S2: on each of us supporting the core interests, core interests
• 8:52
  S2: of the other.
• 8:55
  S4: Russia and China are actively expanding their contacts in politics,
• 8:58
  S4: the economy, and defense, while broadening humanitarian exchanges and encouraging
• 9:03
  S4: person to person interaction. It means that together, we are
• 9:06
  S4: doing everything that can further deepen bilateral collaboration and advance
• 9:10
  S4: the comprehensive development of our countries.
• 9:13
  S2: If you decode that, it has a very specific meaning
• 9:15
  S2: for China. Core interest applies to Taiwan and the future
• 9:19
  S2: of Taiwan and China's plans eventually to annex it, whether
• 9:24
  S2: peacefully or forcibly. They've kept all the options open and
• 9:27
  S2: core business for Russia is the Ukraine war. So that's
• 9:32
  S2: a statement of his expectation that he will offer support
• 9:37
  S2: to China over XI Jinping's plans for Taiwan, and he
• 9:42
  S2: expects China to continue supporting and cooperating with him in
• 9:46
  S2: the war against Ukraine, because so far China has been
• 9:50
  S2: absolutely essential to that war, not only in the dual
• 9:53
  S2: use technology, the electronics technology that they've been supplying, but
• 9:59
  S2: the sheer volume of cash that China spends buying Russian oil,
• 10:04
  S2: which is the single biggest factor allowing Russia to remain
• 10:09
  S2: solvent as a nation state and to continue fighting the war.
• 10:12
  S1: Okay, so tell us what's happening with Taiwan then, because
• 10:15
  S1: we spoke about this last week when, you know, obviously
• 10:18
  S1: it's a hugely contentious issue. So what happened when Trump
• 10:21
  S1: and XI Jinping discussed Taiwan and whether the United States
• 10:25
  S1: would continue its decades long tradition of supplying arms to
• 10:29
  S1: Taiwan to defend itself against any Chinese attack?
• 10:32
  S2: Yes. Going into that meeting, this was the single most
• 10:36
  S2: neuralgic question, really, or the single most potent question about
• 10:41
  S2: this relationship. And, Well, surprise, surprise, Donald Trump crashed through
• 10:49
  S2: the existing rules and protocols that had governed this. So
• 10:53
  S2: since 1979, when the US Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act,
• 10:58
  S2: the US has been permitted by law to supply arms
• 11:01
  S2: to Taiwan to defend itself against the mainland because of
• 11:05
  S2: an overhang of guilt and responsibility towards Taiwan. After switching
• 11:10
  S2: diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to Beijing. And as part of
• 11:14
  S2: of that, Ronald Reagan in 1982 had issued what's known
• 11:18
  S2: as the six assurances to Taiwan, one of which was
• 11:22
  S2: to undertake that the US would undertake not to consult
• 11:26
  S2: with Beijing on arms sales to Taiwan. In other words,
• 11:30
  S2: we're not going to consult the Chinese. We're not going
• 11:31
  S2: to give them an opportunity to negotiate or get involved.
• 11:34
  S2: Our responsibility to you is to arm you so you
• 11:37
  S2: can defend yourselves. What Donald Trump did, a reporter asked him,
• 11:41
  S2: did you talk about arms sales? U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.
• 11:46
  S2: And Trump said, no, that didn't come up. And then
• 11:48
  S2: a few seconds later, he said, we talked about it
• 11:50
  S2: in great detail.
• 11:51
  S3: No, I didn't say anything about it. But certainly, you know,
• 11:55
  S3: he brought that up. He talked about that to me, obviously.
• 11:58
  S3: So what am I going to do? I don't want
• 11:59
  S3: to talk to you about it because I have an
• 12:01
  S3: agreement that was signed in 1982. Uh, no, we discussed
• 12:05
  S3: arms sales to. And what's his request? We discussed the Taiwan.
• 12:10
  S3: You know, the whole thing with the arms sales was
• 12:13
  S3: in great detail, actually.
• 12:15
  S2: And so we now know that he broke the 1982
• 12:20
  S2: Reagan rule that has applied to every other president since.
• 12:24
  S2: There's a $14 billion US arms package that his white
• 12:27
  S2: House put together that is pending for white House approval now.
• 12:31
  S2: And Trump has said, I'm not sure what I'm going
• 12:33
  S2: to do about that. I might approve it, maybe I won't,
• 12:36
  S2: but XI Jinping is very concerned about it.
• 12:39
  S1: After the break.
• 12:41
  S2: The trade deal that Trump ended up doing with XI
• 12:43
  S2: Jinping was, by traditional standards and by Chinese US standards, trivial.
• 12:49
  S2: But in return for that, he was prepared to go
• 12:51
  S2: soft on all the other issues, including Taiwan.
• 12:58
  S1: You spoke with Kurt Campbell, who was in the Biden administration,
• 13:02
  S1: and he had some words to say about the fact
• 13:05
  S1: that Trump has broken this long standing tradition that, you know,
• 13:09
  S1: previous American presidents stood by, which was, of course, this
• 13:12
  S1: arming of Taiwan. So what did he have to say?
• 13:14
  S1: And and why does it matter? I guess because, you know,
• 13:17
  S1: this many years into Trump leading the country. He, you know,
• 13:20
  S1: the one through line, I guess that could be said
• 13:22
  S1: he has is that he breaks tradition. So why does
• 13:26
  S1: this one matter so much and is it consequential?
• 13:29
  S2: Well, in that it shifts the balance between of security
• 13:36
  S2: and degrades Taiwan's security. And XI Jinping will read into
• 13:41
  S2: that the same thing that everybody else is reading into that.
• 13:44
  S2: A preparedness to sell out Taiwan's interests to curry favor
• 13:50
  S2: with Beijing. Trump was in Beijing looking for a trade deal.
• 13:55
  S2: And it was he was making clear that he was
• 13:58
  S2: prepared to to trade Taiwan's interests. Now, later, he. In
• 14:01
  S2: a separate interview, he said, I know the policy hasn't changed,
• 14:04
  S2: but the fact is he changed it by having that conversation.
• 14:07
  S2: Kurt Campbell Kurt was the deputy secretary of state under
• 14:11
  S2: Joe Biden, but he's been a senior official, one of
• 14:15
  S2: the most experienced Asia officials in the entire US, been
• 14:19
  S2: in the Pentagon, the white House, State Department for senior
• 14:22
  S2: positions for over 30 years. He was the man who
• 14:26
  S2: the architect of the US pivot to Asia. He said
• 14:30
  S2: to me that it was a clear breach by Trump
• 14:33
  S2: of that protocol. And he said, I detect a distinct
• 14:36
  S2: waft of Russia, Ukraine in this China, Taiwan waiting that
• 14:44
  S2: Trump is applying. In other words, he's seeing the same thing,
• 14:48
  S2: the same pattern play out where Trump gives precedence to Russia,
• 14:53
  S2: a dictatorial traditional enemy of the US over Ukraine, a
• 14:57
  S2: smaller democratic state. And that's played out now as as
• 15:02
  S2: Kurt Campbell is observing in the way Trump gives priority
• 15:06
  S2: to the dictatorial, traditional enemy of the US over the
• 15:12
  S2: smaller democratic nation.
• 15:14
  S1: Okay, so he's he's breaking rules and traditions there that might,
• 15:18
  S1: of course, impact global security and the balance of power.
• 15:23
  S1: I wanted to ask whether he might be doing the
• 15:25
  S1: same thing on the trade front. I'm just wondering whether
• 15:29
  S1: Trump signaled during his summit with XI that the US
• 15:31
  S1: perhaps is past competing with China. And instead it's sort
• 15:34
  S1: of like in a let's cooperate acquiescing sort of mood,
• 15:39
  S1: because we know that China's foreign minister spoke during the
• 15:41
  S1: summit about the US and China, quote, respecting each other's
• 15:44
  S1: core interests and major concerns that would seem to suggest
• 15:47
  S1: he's saying, hey, America, you better put an end to
• 15:50
  S1: your competitive measures against us. So I'm just wondering if
• 15:53
  S1: Trump said anything that would suggest that, yeah, he's planning
• 15:56
  S1: on doing just that.
• 15:59
  S2: Well, he, uh, went to, to see XI Jinping in
• 16:04
  S2: a weakened condition because he's caught up in this war
• 16:07
  S2: in Iran, which he doesn't seem to be able to
• 16:09
  S2: win or to withdraw from. So he's stuck there. In fact,
• 16:13
  S2: there's a close parallel between these two leaders who've both
• 16:17
  S2: come to bend the knee to XI Jinping in Beijing
• 16:21
  S2: in this last week. Donald Trump, on the one hand,
• 16:24
  S2: caught up in this quagmire in Iran, and Vladimir Putin
• 16:28
  S2: caught up in his own quagmire in Ukraine. In both cases,
• 16:32
  S2: they don't seem to be able to win, but they
• 16:33
  S2: don't seem to be able to withdraw either, which just
• 16:36
  S2: highlights the strength of Beijing's position. And in fact, the
• 16:40
  S2: Beijing party owned media have been talking this up. They've
• 16:44
  S2: been talking up China's new centrality at the at the
• 16:48
  S2: center of global diplomacy. And it's true, both Putin and
• 16:53
  S2: Trump went as supplicants to see XI Jinping. They both
• 16:57
  S2: want support, and they both, above all, want trade deals
• 17:01
  S2: they need or think they need in Trump's case, think
• 17:04
  S2: they need the cash? Mhm. The trade deal that Trump
• 17:07
  S2: ended up doing with XI Jinping was, by traditional standards
• 17:11
  S2: and by Chinese U.S. standards, trivial. But in return for that,
• 17:16
  S2: he was prepared to go soft on all the other issues,
• 17:17
  S2: including Taiwan. Is this an end to, um, strategic competition
• 17:23
  S2: between the US and China? No, no, because other elements
• 17:27
  S2: of the US and the Trump administration are still imposing
• 17:32
  S2: tough measures on China.
• 17:34
  S1: Like what tariffs or.
• 17:36
  S2: So sanctions on. For example, a Chinese company provided targeting information,
• 17:43
  S2: access to one of their satellites to Iran to help
• 17:46
  S2: them bomb US planes and assets in the Middle East
• 17:49
  S2: during this war. So the Treasury Department is now applied
• 17:52
  S2: sanctions to the Chinese company and Chinese companies who were
• 17:55
  S2: involved in that effort. So that sort of stuff still occurs.
• 17:58
  S2: But at the top level, Trump has stopped the competition.
• 18:03
  S2: You'll remember last year he applied massive tariffs 145% plus
• 18:07
  S2: to China. China simply stepped stepped up and said and
• 18:11
  S2: punched him back and said, well, say goodbye to your
• 18:13
  S2: supply of rare earths and critical minerals. Yes, Trump dropped
• 18:16
  S2: his attempt at tariffs within two days. And and they've
• 18:20
  S2: now entered this sort of stasis or truce, really, where
• 18:23
  S2: neither is taking new trade measures against the other. So
• 18:27
  S2: at the top level, as far as so far as
• 18:29
  S2: Trump is concerned, he is he does seem to be
• 18:33
  S2: in some ways abandoning strategic competition with China. Yes. And
• 18:37
  S2: the other thing that he has done with this treatment
• 18:40
  S2: of Taiwan, and Kurt Campbell made this point to him
• 18:44
  S2: by demoting or degrading a US commitment to the defense
• 18:51
  S2: of Taiwan. He has made all US allies in the
• 18:55
  S2: region anxious, including Australia, including Japan, South Korea, the Philippines.
• 19:01
  S2: Because if he if he's prepared to trade off Taiwan
• 19:04
  S2: and I should point out, the Taiwanese president issued a
• 19:07
  S2: statement immediately saying, we refuse to be traded or bargained off.
• 19:11
  S2: But if he's prepared to trade the security of Taiwan
• 19:15
  S2: for other equities with the Chinese, then all allies in
• 19:20
  S2: the region think two things. One, if he's prepared to
• 19:23
  S2: do it with them, he might do it with us.
• 19:26
  S2: And second, in the event that China, one way or another,
• 19:30
  S2: does Establish effective control over Taiwan. It allows. That then
• 19:36
  S2: allows the People's Liberation Army Navy to push further and
• 19:41
  S2: beyond into the Western Pacific and simply making it much
• 19:45
  S2: more difficult for the US Navy to operate in the
• 19:48
  S2: Western Pacific. That would be an historic loss of space
• 19:53
  S2: control and hegemony for the US.
• 19:57
  S1: And it's got to be noted that, um, that she
• 20:00
  S1: is scheduled to visit the US on September 24th and
• 20:02
  S1: that Donald Trump and XI Jinping may meet again at
• 20:04
  S1: conferences scheduled for November and December.
• 20:07
  S2: That's an interesting point. Nobody in in this line of
• 20:11
  S2: work in the US that I talked to, ah, can
• 20:14
  S2: remember the last time a Chinese president committed specifically to
• 20:18
  S2: a particular visit on a date known well in advance
• 20:22
  S2: like this. Normally it's reserved as a bit of a negotiating.
• 20:25
  S1: So what does that suggest?
• 20:26
  S2: Well, Kurt Campbell's summary to me was this shows a
• 20:30
  S2: level of confidence that Beijing has got Trump under control.
• 20:35
  S1: Where he.
• 20:35
  S2: Wants it, that we've never seen before. XI Jinping's thinking
• 20:39
  S2: I've got absolutely nothing to lose dealing with Donald Trump
• 20:42
  S2: because I know how to deal with this guy.
• 20:44
  S1: Well, I might wrap up, Peter, but just kidding you
• 20:47
  S1: to comment on something I read. Like, is there bromance
• 20:49
  S1: at a high, much to the detriment, I would imagine,
• 20:52
  S1: for Americans because I read one journalist put it like
• 20:54
  S1: this in China, she took him meaning Trump on a
• 20:58
  S1: tour of a private garden and like a swooning teenager
• 21:01
  S1: on a date in a nice restaurant, Trump asked whether
• 21:03
  S1: the Chinese leader ever took other foreign guests to the
• 21:06
  S1: same place. I was just like, oh no.
• 21:11
  S2: It's pretty embarrassing. In fact, Trump was lavishing flattery upon
• 21:16
  S2: XI Jinping, and XI Jinping stood back and he said
• 21:20
  S2: it was a historic visit, and it was an important
• 21:23
  S2: moment and all of that stuff. But he did not
• 21:25
  S2: lavish personal praise on Donald Trump. Not one bit. Trump
• 21:29
  S2: was all over him.
• 21:30
  S1: It's like an Archie comic, but but geopolitical power and
• 21:33
  S1: economic security. Yeah.
• 21:36
  S2: And I'm not, I hasten to add. Yes. I would
• 21:39
  S2: feel embarrassed. Yeah. To see my president behaving like that
• 21:44
  S2: with the dictator of China. Absolutely.
• 21:47
  S1: So you and I should be on the lookout for
• 21:49
  S1: for swooning. Coming over. Global videotape. September, November and December.
• 21:54
  S2: Cover your eyes.
• 21:55
  S1: Okay. Thanks, Peter. As always.
• 21:57
  S2: Pleasure, Samantha.
• 22:09
  S1: In other news, today, Australia's health practitioner watchdog is investigating
• 22:13
  S1: four dentists at one of the country's largest cosmetic dental chains,
• 22:18
  S1: following allegations that they use predatory practices to encourage patients
• 22:23
  S1: to access their superannuation early to fund veneers. according to
• 22:28
  S1: the executors of Graham Richardson's estate. The former labor senator,
• 22:32
  S1: lobbyist and master of stealth enrichment died penniless, and the
• 22:38
  S1: enhanced games will kick off in Las Vegas on Monday.
• 22:41
  S1: Australian time and feature Olympic medallists using performance enhancing drugs
• 22:46
  S1: under medical supervision. We have everything you need to know
• 22:49
  S1: about this competition that's been likened to a steroid fuelled circus.
• 22:54
  S1: You can read more at the age.com.au or smh.com.au. Today's
• 23:01
  S1: episode was produced by Kai Wong. Our executive producer is
• 23:05
  S1: Tammy Mills, and our podcasts are overseen by Lisa Muxworthy
• 23:09
  S1: and Tom McKendrick. If you like our show, follow The
• 23:12
  S1: Morning Edition and leave a review for us on Apple
• 23:15
  S1: or Spotify. Thanks for listening.