UK Parliament has defeated Prime Minister’s Brexit deal on a crushing margin. As the date of the divorce is nearing, UK may have to leave the European Union without a deal or even have to stay in it.

Parliament had voted 432-202 against the deal proposed by the Prime minister. It is said to be the worst defeat for the Government in the recent British history. Not only the Brexiteers but also the lawmakers in support of EU membership voted down the deal.

The final date of March 29 for separation is nearing. And with these uncertainties, the United Kingdom is going through the deepest crisis of the century. The question remains intact about how to leave the union or even whether to leave the union. It should be reported here that the United Kingdom joined the European Union in 1973.

The British Prime Minister Theresa May wanted from the starting to depart with the European Union amicably having decided the future course of the relationship with the union. But, the recent defeat and the first British parliamentary defeat of a treaty since 1864, made it clear that the two years of strategy and persuasion did not work for the PM.

Anand Menon, professor of European politics and foreign affairs at King’s College London said the Brexit deal is basically dead. The EU lawmakers, as well as the British lawmakers, would consider the deal dead and as of now, Britain has neither Brexit nor any alternative to Brexit.

The British Prime minister has repeatedly refused to resign in the whole process of gathering consensus, but now she has some limited options at her hands. She might get agreed on the Brexit with no deal with the European Union or any last moment concessions from the European Union. She also has other options like a delay to Brexit, resignation, an election or a referendum.

The Dilemma-

Since 2016 referendum which allowed the Brexit to happen on a majority of 52 to 48 percent, the British political class has been debating how to leave the European projected which was created by Germany and France on the aftermath of World War II.

As the country is divided on the question of EU membership, the matter of vital importance is British’s contemporary position and the importance of its decision as it will shape the future generation’s prosperity.

Before the deal, Theresa May had made one thing clear that Britain would rather stay in the European Union than leaving the European Union without a deal. She had also urged her fellow conservative members not to let the Labour party hold power to control the Brexit. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, said he is now expecting an early election after calling a vote for a no-confidence motion. After the huge defeat, it is undemocratic for her to continue in the Government.

Supporters of EU membership strongly advocate that the Brexit will create more fissures between the western unity and it will undermine the reputation of the United Kingdom as a stable destination for investment, and it would eventually impact Britain’s importance in the Global Politics.

The opponents of Brexit also are hoping for another referendum and this time they are pretty hopeful of a win as the Brexiteers of the past referendum now have the proper insight and knowledge of the consequences of Brexit.

People supporting Brexit stated the over-bureaucratic nature of the union is responsible for the fast falling of the once used to be super powerful British. As per them, in order to continue the competition with countries like the United States and China, it has to change and get out of the Union which prohibits the freedom it requires.

After the recent declaration by the Chinese Government of opening up its economy to the foreign players, it can be said that China has not lived up to its promises.

The most sought-after sector is still unreachable by foreign players. Foreign companies do not fully penetrate the country’s financial market. However, after a series of allegations by the companies globally, China has released a bunch of announcements in order to loosen the grip over the sector. Experts were surprised by the announcements at that moment. So, 2018 has seen opening up of the second largest economy of the world. But, there is a certain segment of the financial market, which still has no major access to the massive Asian market.

The segment in the question is Payment Services. As per some reports, People’s Bank of China has not yet formally acknowledged the application forms of Visa and Mastercard to allow these companies to process yuan payments. As per reports, the two companies have filed the application more than a year ago, and as per the regulations of the Central bank, once acknowledged, the decision on the application needs to be done within 90 days.

Though, Visa and MasterCard refused to give any comments on the whole episode. The central bank’s head of payments said that Mastercard had already withdrawn its application last June and Visa’s application lacked some supplement materials.

The Central bank’s representative also said that in the whole process the bank had never raised the issue of full ownership or the requirement of a joint venture in order to get full access to the Chinese market.

Once the two Payment majors get access to the Chinese market, they will have to compete with the local card payment company UnionPay. China’s Central Bank has the highest shares in the company, and it has the complete coverage in the local market, and it also has expanded in the foreign markets as well.

As per statistics, UnionPay has a market share of 36 percent in global bank card payments whereas Visa and Mastercard have 32 percent and 20 percent market share in bank card payment respectively.

China’s reluctance in giving foreign access-

Though there are concerns over China’s reluctance to provide access to its financial market, it has brought many changes recently on that front.

In November, the Central Bank of China granted access to American Express preliminary approval to process and settle domestic Yuan payments. However, it approved the access as American Express agreed to work in a joint venture with a local company Lian Lian.

After a few weeks, UBS announced having the permission of the China Securities Regulatory Commission for increasing stake in the local joint venture to a majority of 51 percent. UBS is the first foreign bank on the Chinese soil to own this much of ownership percentage.

In 2018, both President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang have announced that China would provide better access to its markets for the foreign companies. They also committed to removing the limit on the stock holding in banks, insurance, and securities sectors. They also would allow foreign investors to buy and trade on mainland-traded stocks.

Xiao Yuanqi, the spokesperson for the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, said China would further open up its financial market for the banks, insurance companies, and stockbroking agencies. It would be happy to serve as a hub for investment which in turn may bring in professionals and technologies.

However, critics say China has not lived up to the promises it made in 2001 at the time of joining the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Denying access to the bank card industry is just one example, and there are lots of industries it still provides no access to. They also accused China of violating norms of the WTO by putting a mandatory clause for payment companies to work with UnionPay for all Yuan dominated payments.

In the era of globalization, China is doing the same damage to global trade; it has been alleging the United States of. By not opening up its economy but pushing its exports, China has been able to increase its trade surplus globally. But, in the regime of WTO, this will not go unnoticed for very long. China should consider providing the same amount of access to foreign players; it has been receiving abroad.