India has begun sending COVID-19 vaccines to neighboring countries, as its level of vaccine production has put it at the forefront suppliers of affordable vaccines to low- and middle-income nations urgently seeking supplies. As Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, India hopes to both raise its global profile with “vaccine diplomacy” and win back influence in South Asia, where China has been making inroads.
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Rescue teams in China have brought to the surface 11 miners trapped in a gold mine by an explosion Jan. 10.Local media said the first miner was rescued from the mine in Qixia City in Shandong Province in east of the country on Sunday morning. He was rushed to an area hospital for treatment, being barely responsive.Ten other miners, from a different section of the mine, were lifted from underground in groups over several hours. They had established contact with rescuers before Sunday and had been receiving food and supplies.A total of 22 miners were trapped about 600 meters underground.One miner is reported to have died, while the condition of 10 others remains unknown.Chinese authorities have detained several managers of the mine, which was still under construction, for allegedly reporting the blast more than 24 hours after it occurred.
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Eight Chinese bombers and four fighter jets entered the southwestern corner of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone Saturday, and Taiwan’s air force deployed missiles to monitor the incursion, the island’s Defense Ministry said.China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has conducted almost daily flights over the waters between the southern part of Taiwan and the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea in recent months.However, the flights have generally consisted of one or two reconnaissance aircraft.FILE – H-6K aircraft fly in formation during a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of Japan’s surrender during World War II, in Beijing, Sept. 3, 2015.The presence of so many Chinese combat aircraft on this mission — Taiwan said it was made up of eight nuclear-capable H-6K bombers and four J-16 fighter jets — is unusual.A map provided by Taiwan’s Defense Ministry showed that the Chinese aircraft, which also included a Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, flew over the same waters where the most recent Chinese missions have been taking place near the Pratas Islands, though still well away from mainland Taiwan.Taiwan’s air force warned away the Chinese aircraft and deployed missiles to monitor them, the ministry added, using standard wording for how it responds to such activities.”Airborne alert sorties had been tasked, radio warnings issued and air defense missile systems deployed to monitor the activity,” it said in a brief statement.The U.S. State Department urged China to stop pressuring Taiwan and reaffirmed its commitment to the island and desire to deepen ties.“We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan’s democratically elected representatives,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.”We will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability.”There was no immediate comment from China. In the past China has said it has been carrying out exercises to defend the country’s sovereignty and security.Beijing has watched with growing concern the increasing U.S. support for democratic Taiwan, especially during Donald Trump’s administration, which left office Wednesday.Last year during visits by senior U.S. officials to Taipei, Chinese aircraft briefly crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which normally serves as an unofficial buffer.The flight by the Chinese bombers and fighters Saturday came just days after Joe Biden assumed the U.S. presidency.Emily Horne, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said the U.S. commitment to Taiwan was “rock-solid” after the island’s de facto ambassador in Washington, Hsiao Bi-khim, attended Biden’s swearing-in on Wednesday.   
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Japan has joined a growing list of countries that are challenging China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea.On Tuesday, Japan presented a one-page diplomatic note to the United Nations rejecting China’s baseline claims and denouncing its efforts to limit the freedom of navigation and overflight.Japan’s note is the latest in series of recent criticisms of China’s position, joining submissions to the U.N. from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and the United States.Beijing Accuses US of Sowing Discord in South China Sea Chinese Embassy in Washington says statement issued by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo deliberately distorts facts and disregards efforts of China and others to achieve peaceThis backlash suggests that China’s excessive claims and its assertive behavior are setting off alarm bells in in a growing number of capitals—both in Southeast Asia and beyond.“By joining the United States and several European and Asian nations in formally protesting China’s claims, Japan is joining a diplomatic (and maybe operational) effort to reject specific elements of China’s South China Sea claims,” said Isaac Kardon, an assistant professor at the U.S. Naval War College.In its submission, Japan explicitly rejects China’s claim that the “drawing of territorial sea baselines by China on relevant islands and reefs in the South China Sea conforms to UNCLOS and general international law.”The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is an international treaty that covers maritime jurisdictions, the use of sea resources, and the freedom of navigation and overflight. Baselines are imaginary lines on a map connecting the outermost points of the features of an archipelago and are meant to circumscribe the territory that belongs to it.South China Sea Tensions Rise as Militaries Conduct Regional DrillsBeijing reacts strongly to Trump administration’s rejection of China’s broad territorial claims in South China Sea, calling Washington ‘a troublemaker and a disruptor of regional stability’In July 2016, an UNCLOS tribunal ruled that China “is constituted principally by territory on the mainland of Asia and cannot meet the definition of an archipelagic State,” which means that any future straight baseline claims around the Spratly Islands will not find any support under international law. The arbitral award also invalidated China’s historic rights claims within its so-called “nine-dash line.”The UNCLOS tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague issued this arbitral award in response to a legal challenge brought against China in 2013 by the Philippines. China refused to participate in the arbitration, rejected the PCA’s ruling, and has continued to defend its baseline claims.In the years since the UNCLOS tribunal ruling, the legal battle over China’s South China Sea claims has continued. According to Kardon, Japan’s recent note to the U.N. is part of “a series of such diplomatic notes that began with Malaysia’s December 2019 submission of extended continental shelf claims to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf.”China responded by asking the Commission to “not consider” Malaysia’s submission. “This provided another target for claimants and other interested parties to voice formal objections to specific aspects of China’s claims,” Kardon said.US: China’s Claims in South China Sea ‘Completely Unlawful’  ‘The PRC has no legal grounds to unilaterally impose its will on the region,’ US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Monday Japan’s note to the United Nations is a response to China’s retort to the joint notes that France, Germany, and the United Kingdom submitted in September 2020.Japan’s note also expresses concern about China’s position on freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea – specifically over what are called “low-tide elevations,” features exposed at low tide but submerged at high tide that do not generate a territorial sea.Japan specifically accuses China of protesting “the overflight of Japanese aircraft in the airspace surrounding Mischief Reef” – a low-tide elevation in the Spratly Islands that China transformed into a major outpost through land reclamation.Zachary Haver contributed to this report.
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One year after it thrust the word “lockdown” into the global conversation, Wuhan reached the anniversary with a mix of pride at emerging from COVID-19’s grip and caution over a possible relapse.A year ago Saturday, Wuhan shocked the world by confining its 11 million anxious citizens to their homes, beginning a traumatic 76-day lockdown that underscored the growing threat of a mysterious pathogen emanating from the city.At 10 a.m. that day, public transport was shut down, and exiting the city was banned without special permission. An eerie silence descended.One by one, adjacent areas in hard-hit Hubei province quickly followed suit, as did governments worldwide as the coronavirus went global.But while the world’s pandemic struggles continue, Wuhan today is nothing like the locked-down ghost town of a year ago, with traffic humming, sidewalks bustling, and citizens packing public transport and parks.”I was frightened last year, but things have improved a lot since the epidemic has been brought under control,” said a maskless jogger in his 20s who gave only his surname, Wang, one of many people exercising under hazy skies along Wuhan’s Yangtze Riverfront on Saturday.’Life is like before now’But memories of Wuhan’s ordeal remain fresh, especially as localized COVID-19 clusters multiply across China, prompting mass testing in Beijing and targeted lockdowns in other areas.Huang Genben, who spent 67 days in a hospital fighting COVID-19 in 2020, speaks during an interview with AFP in Wuhan, China, Jan. 21, 2021.Huang Genben, 76, spent 67 days in hospital fighting COVID-19 last year, spitting up blood and expecting to die.”When I closed my eyes at night, I didn’t know if I would open them again,” Huang told AFP.Like many of his countrymen, he expresses pride at the “great efforts” made by China’s government and citizens to contain the pandemic, exemplified by Wuhan.The virus has killed at least 2 million people globally and continues to rage, but in China, authorities have reported fewer than 5,000 deaths, the vast majority coming in Wuhan at the pandemic’s outset.And Saturday’s relaxed scenes – elderly dancers spinning in parks and crowded bars selling “Wuhan Stay Strong” craft beer – contrast with the rolling lockdowns, surging death rates and overwhelmed hospitals in other countries.’I feel pain'”We can tell from the results that the policy of the government was correct, the cooperation of [Wuhan] citizens was correct. I feel pain seeing the epidemic all over the world,” Huang said.The government has pushed an official propaganda narrative – starring Wuhan – focusing on a “heroic” Chinese response and recovery.But there are no known lockdown commemorations planned Saturday by Beijing, which remains tight-lipped on the pandemic’s early days amid accusations it tried to cover it up or mishandled the outbreak, allowing it to spread.People take a selfie in a shopping mall in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Jan. 22, 2021.The virus is generally believed to have spread from a Wuhan wet market where exotic animals were sold as food.But China has otherwise released little information on its origins, fueling calls in the West for more transparency.The lockdown anniversary comes with World Health Organization experts just days from completing a two-week quarantine in Wuhan before launching a planned investigation into the coronavirus’s origins.The WHO said Friday that it was too early to draw any conclusions as to whether the pandemic started in China.“All hypotheses are on the table,” said WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan.’Strong, fearless’The anniversary was barely acknowledged in China on Saturday morning, with no initial government statements seen and minimal mention in state propaganda outlets.A commentary in the Beijing News professed “mixed feelings,” praising the aggressive lockdown as a model for the world while noting Wuhan’s sacrifices – and the persistent virus threat.People wearing face masks to guard against COVID-19 visit a shoe shop in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Jan. 22, 2021.”We must not lose the hard-won results of the epidemic to negligence, and must not let the epidemic rebound,” it said.It added: “Pay tribute to Wuhan. Pay tribute to the strong and fearless Chinese people!”While other nations, notably the United States, have hesitated on their coronavirus response, Wuhan shut down completely, plunging its economy into recession.Now, the activity on the streets attests to an impressive rebound, but some say it remains incomplete.Xu Jiajun, 58, a street vendor, said times remained tough.”The situation is not good. I don’t have a stable income like I did before. Things have changed,” he said.
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Japan is publicly adamant that it will stage its postponed Olympics this summer. But to pull it off, many believe the vaccination of its 127 million citizens for the coronavirus is key.  
    
It’s an immense undertaking in the best of circumstances and complicated now by an overly cautious decision-making process, bureaucratic roadblocks and a public that has long been deeply wary of vaccines.  
    
Japan hopes to start COVID-19 vaccinations in late February, but uncertainty is growing that a nation ranked among the world’s lowest in vaccine confidence can pull off the massive, $14 billion project in time for the games in July, casting doubt on whether the Tokyo Olympics can happen.
    
Japan has secured vaccines for all its citizens, and then some, after striking deals with three foreign pharmaceutical makers – Pfizer Inc., AstraZeneca and Moderna Inc. Its swift action was seen as proof of its resolve to stage the games after a one-year postponement because of the pandemic.  
    
The country needs foreign-made vaccines because local development is only in its early stages.
    
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, in a speech this week, said vaccines are “the clincher” in the fight against the pandemic and vowed to start vaccinations as soon as late February, when health ministry approval of the Pfizer vaccine, the first applicant, is expected.
    
Suga pledged to provide “accurate information based on scientific findings, including side effects and efficacy,” an attempt to address the worries of vaccine skeptics.  
    
Under the current plan, inoculations will start with 10,000 front-line medical workers. Then about 3 million other medical workers will be added ahead of high-risk groups such as the elderly, those with underlying health conditions and caregivers. The rest of the population is expected to get access around May or later, though officials refuse to give an exact timeline.
    
Japan is under a partial state of emergency and struggling with an upsurge of infections. There have been about 351,000 cases, with 4,800 deaths, according to the health ministry.  
    
Many people are skeptical of the vaccination effort, partly because side effects of vaccines have often been played up here. A recent survey on TBS television found only 48% of respondents said they wanted a COVID-19 vaccination. In a Lancet study of 149 countries published in September, Japan ranked among the lowest in vaccine confidence, with less than 25% of people agreeing on vaccine safety, importance and effectiveness.  
    
Many Japanese have a vague unease about vaccines, said Dr. Takashi Nakano, a Kawasaki Medical School professor and vaccine expert. “If something (negative) happens after inoculation, people tend to think it’s because of the vaccine, and that’s the image stuck in their mind for a long time.”  
    
The history of vaccine mistrust in Japan dates to 1948, when dozens of babies died after getting a faulty diphtheria vaccine. In 1989, cases of aseptic meningitis in children who received a combined vaccination for measles, mumps and rubella, or MMR, prompted lawsuits against the government, forcing it to scrap the mix four years later.  
    
A 1992 court ruling held the government liable for adverse reactions linked to several vaccines, while defining suspected side effects as adverse events, but without sufficient scientific evidence, experts say. In a major change to its policy, Japan in 1994 revised its vaccination law to scrap mandatory inoculation.  
    
While several Japanese companies and research organizations are currently developing their own coronavirus vaccines, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. will distribute the Moderna vaccine and produce the Novavax vaccine in Japan.
    
Masayuki Imagawa, head of Takeda’s Japan vaccine business unit, said his company last year considered developing its own vaccine. But instead, it decided to prioritize speed and chose to import Moderna’s product and make the Novavax vaccine at Takeda’s factory in Japan. He said the decision was not influenced by the Olympics.
    
Experts also worry about running into logistical challenges and bureaucratic roadblocks in staging a massive inoculation project that involves five government ministries along with local towns and cities. The government has budgeted more than $14 billion for the vaccine project.
    
Thousands of medical workers would have to be mobilized to give the shots, monitor and respond in case of any problems. Securing their help is difficult when hospitals are already burdened with treatment of COVID-19 patients, said Hitoshi Iwase, an official in Tokyo’s Sumida district tasked with preparing vaccinations for 275,000 residents.  
    
While vaccines are considered key to achieving the games, Prime Minister Suga said they won’t be required.
    
“We will prepare for a safe and secure Olympics without making vaccination a precondition,” Suga said Thursday, responding to a call by opposition lawmakers for a further postponement or cancellation of the games to concentrate on virus measures.
    
Uncertainty over vaccine safety and efficacy make it difficult to predict when Japan can obtain wide enough immunity to the coronavirus to control the pandemic.
    
“It is inappropriate to push vaccinations to hold the Olympics,” said Dr. Tetsuo Nakayama, a professor at Kitasato Institute for Life Sciences. “Vaccines should be used to protect the people’s health, not to achieve the Olympics.” 
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Malaysia has gone back into a tough new lockdown as COVID-19 caseloads have spiked this month after a relatively calm 2020, and the government’s image is beginning to take a hit among people who are confused about what to do.The Southeast Asian country of 31.5 million people, like many of its neighbors, gained a measure of control on the coronavirus early last year through strict social distancing rules and three months of mandatory shutdowns.As other countries carry that success into 2021, though, a reopening of interstate travel last month following a snap state election in September with 67% voter turnout allowed infections to surge in Malaysia, domestic media reports say. Travel was restarted to lift the economy.The coronavirus jumped into prison populations late last year and even infected funeral guests, prompting government advice to keep attendance at funerals low.Two women take photos under the Chinese New Year lantern decorations at a shopping mall in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Jan. 16, 2021.Daily caseloads have hit new highs this month, topping 4,000 twice, and the country’s second mass stay-home orders took effect Jan. 13.“Coming from the perspective of a Malaysian, what’s unique for us is how we’ve had this relatively good management of the pandemic last year, where there was a period where we were only recording single-digit case numbers on a daily basis,” said Harris Zainul, an analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies Malaysia.“So, you contrast this to how it is today, it’s quite interesting to see what’s happening in Malaysia in terms of the responses by the government to handle the quote-unquote ‘good times’ and the new challenges that you’re seeing right now,” he said.Elsewhere in Southeast Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have gotten COVID-19 under control. Indonesia and the Philippines still struggle, with average daily caseloads more severe than Malaysia’s.Caseloads in Malaysia have topped 4,000 per day twice this month. The cumulative caseload stands at 172,549 with 642 dead.Public support for Malaysia’s parliamentary government hovers above 60% but that’s down from around 80% in early 2020, said Ibrahim Suffian, program director with the polling group Merdeka Center in Kuala Lumpur.A medical worker collects a swab sample from a man during coronavirus testing in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, Jan. 18, 2021.Media outlets in Southeast Asia quoted Malaysia’s prime minister this month saying the health care system had reached a “breaking point.”“The government is trying to put a handle on this situation and in fact there is a sense of urgency now because the hospitals are beginning to be overwhelmed,” Suffian said.Some citizens feel annoyed because they’re not sure how to comply with epidemic control rules, Zainul said. Timely information can be hard to find on government websites, easily fanning rumors, he said. A sense of “panic” has gripped many citizens, who at the same time crave human contact that’s forbidden now under the stay-home orders, he added.Yet Malaysians are unlikely to protest at length against the government as long as they get stimulus money, said Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs.“This is a very tame population here – people even if they go to [the] streets it’s like for one or two hours,” Oh said. “People complain and then the government sprinkles more money and then the complaints will stop for a while.”On Monday the government introduced a fifth economic stimulus package to date, worth $3.72 billion, to fight COVID-19 and offer economic support, domestic news media said. Officials separately plan to recruit 3,500 more medical professionals.
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Billionaire Thai pro-democracy champion Thanathorn Jungroongruangkit on Wednesday evening defended his questioning of a vaccine company owned by the king after he was hit Wednesday with a wave of charges for royal defamation.Earlier Wednesday, the government had filed multiple charges alleging that Thanathorn had breached the kingdom’s draconian royal defamation law by criticizing the country’s vaccine strategy in a Facebook Live video.The charges came as Thailand’s establishment tries to extinguish rampant criticism of the monarchy and the lèse-majesté law shielding it.The move is the latest in dozens of cases brought in recent weeks by the royalist establishment struggling to quash an anti-government movement that has roused unprecedented public criticism of the monarchy’s wealth and political influence with calls for the palace to be put under the constitution.Thanathorn’s latest legal troubles came after a court Tuesday jailed Anchan Preelert, a former civil servant, for more than 43 years for sharing audio clips seen as defamatory to the monarchy. The sentence is the longest recorded under the lèse-majesté law, which is aimed at shielding the monarchy from criticism, and is widely seen as a warning to the mainly young protesters who massed on Thailand’s streets for much of last year to end their brazen attacks on the monarchy.Thanathorn was banned from politics by Thai courts and his Future Foward party disbanded, less than a year after the party came from nowhere to garner 6 million votes — mainly among millennials — in a 2019 election.Under Wednesday’s 10 charges, which carry up to 15 years per conviction of “defaming, threatening or insulting” key royals, including King Maha Vajiralongkorn, Thanathorn could face more than a century in jail.In a rare move the charges were filed with police — the first step toward a formal charge — directly by the government after Thanathorn held a Facebook Live seminar on the potential for a conflict of interest in the award of a contract to develop a homegrown vaccine to Siam Bioscience, in which the immensely wealthy Vajiralongkorn is the only shareholder.In his Facebook Live session Monday, Thanathorn asked whether a royalist government headed by ex-army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha could be counted on to hold the company accountable in the event of problems with “unfair distribution, side effects, or other unexpected outcomes,” given who its shareholder is.The questioning of the monarchy in the potentially lucrative vaccine market brought a swift response from the government.“Thanathorn distorted facts and caused misunderstanding among people,” Suporn Atthawong, a minister in the prime minister’s office, told reporters on Wednesday after filing Section 112 charges with police.“He violated the monarchy, which upset Thai people who love and protect the monarchy,” he added.A day earlier Prayuth, an ex-army chief who led a 2014 coup endorsed by the palace, had warned legal charges were coming.“Everything he [Thanatorn] said was misinformation, no facts at all. I will have anyone who disseminates misinformation prosecuted,” he said.Thanathorn hit back late Wednesday.“The more you try to discredit me or harass me with charges, the more it make you look suspicious. Why does the state have to go these lengths to defend a private company?” he said in a Facebook post.In his latest Facebook post, Wednesday night, he said, “I was just being curious about how the government is handling the vaccine, but I got charged for it.”Warning for protesters seenExperts say the courts are getting tough on sentences for 112 — as the law is more commonly known — as a warning to the youth protesters, to seed fear and stub out flashmobs attacking the 112 law as well as the palace it protects.Authorities “are using lèse-majesté prosecutions as their last resort … in response to the youth-led democracy uprising that seeks to curb the king’s powers and keep him within the bounds of constitutional rule,” said Sunai Phasuk of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division.The legal noose is tightening around critics of the monarchy, by some estimates the world’s richest, as Thailand’s top institution reasserts its power after months of being put off balance by the protesters’ angry, satirical attacks — which include speeches, banners and online memes.Their rallies, which at their peak drew tens of thousands, were drifting toward violent confrontation with royalists before they were suspended while Thailand battles a resurgence of the COVID-19 virus.But protesters have turned to guerrilla tactics during the lull, hanging banners from exclusive shopping malls and daubing their discontent with the 112 law which is being pointed at them on walls.Attapon Buapat, a key protest leader, told VOA that the latest show of legal force by the state will not “deter” the movement.He also said it would not deter him personally, although he faces multiple Section 112 charges, adding, “We should not fear to fight for what we believe.” 
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The U.S. military has so far kept its coronavirus numbers relatively low, thanks in part to strict discipline and the ability to easily enforce social distancing rules. However, as the Pentagon rolls out COVID-19 vaccines at its bases around the world, it is dealing with the challenge of how to convince service members to voluntarily take the vaccine.Pentagon leaders say they will not require their personnel to take the vaccine until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gives its full approval of the drug. So far, the FDA has only given emergency authorization that allowed for the initial distribution of the vaccine. It could be up to two years before the full approval comes, military officials have told VOA.That provides an unusual obstacle for the U.S. military, which has been able to effectively combat the virus with more forceful tools not available to civilian authorities, including the ability to strictly control access to the base and what activities are allowed there, and to punish those who break the rules.“This [vaccine effort] is an interesting situation in that it is voluntary,” Col. Doug Lougee, the lead medical officer for U.S. Forces Korea, which began vaccines last month, told VOA.”Here in the military, especially the Army, we’re not used to telling people to volunteer or asking them to volunteer for things like this,” he said.Severe measuresSince the start of the pandemic, the U.S. military in South Korea has not been afraid to impose severe restrictions to “kill the virus,” the catchphrase often used by Gen. Robert Abrams, the top U.S. general in South Korea. U.S. bases in Korea have for months been in various stages of lockdown, depending on the severity of the pandemic in the rest of South Korea.The effort has mostly succeeded. According to a count by the Yonhap news agency, 636 people associated with U.S. forces in the country have tested positive for the virus, a relatively low number considering the tens of thousands of people affiliated with U.S. bases in South Korea. The vast majority of those infections have been of new arrivals from other countries, including the United States. They have been subject to an immediate 14-day quarantine.Overall, there have only been 15 deaths among the approximately 126,000 U.S. military personnel who have tested positive for the coronavirus worldwide, according to Pentagon statistics, although the toll increases to 210 if affiliated individuals, such as civilian personnel, contractors, and dependents are included. That is a much lower fatality rate than occurs among civilians.Overcoming vaccine fearsThe military began vaccinations for its personnel last month, although it has not said how many service members have received the shots. According to a COVID-19 vaccine tracker on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, the Defense Department has distributed 499,400 doses and administered 256,867 of them, although it’s not clear how many of those doses went to non-service members, including civilian employees and contractors.There was some initial skepticism at U.S. bases in South Korea about the vaccine, which was developed much more quickly than many expected, Col. Lee Peters, U.S. forces spokesperson said.“When we initially did our screening to get an idea of who wants and doesn’t want it, there was a pretty good number of people who said, hey I don’t want it,” Peters said.To allay those concerns, the military rolled out educational campaigns to combat disinformation about the vaccine. To set an example, senior leaders were among the first to get the shots. Since then, there have been very few people expressing concerns about the vaccine, Peters said.“I think we’re hitting about the right tone, with not ceding the battlefield to the conspiracy theorists, getting the information out there, but on the other hand not being overbearing or strong-arming people,” said Lougee.For security reasons, military officials in Korea would not say how many personnel have received the vaccine, although frontline health workers and people in other critical positions were first in line.Eventually, the vaccine will be available to all base-affiliated individuals, officials say. Based on past vaccine approval timelines, though, Peters said it could be 18 to 24 months before the FDA gives the full approval necessary to make the vaccine mandatory.Restrictions continueMeanwhile, U.S. bases will likely continue severe social distancing restrictions, especially during local flare-ups of the virus.In a reminder of the virus’s resiliency, military officials this month imposed a shelter-in-place order on two of the largest bases, following a cluster of infections.“We’ve got to really knock back the virus to really low levels before we can start considering stopping some of the other things,” said Lougee. “This [vaccine] is just another tool to keep it under control.” 
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Chinese billionaire Jack Ma has made his first public appearance since openly criticizing China’s financial regulatory system just over two months ago.  
 
Ma appeared in a 50-second video Wednesday published on Chinese financial news outlets congratulating rural teachers who have been supported by his charitable foundation, vowing that he and his colleagues would devote themselves to educational philanthropy.   
 
The 56-year-old billionaire founder of Alibaba, the world’s largest online retail company,  
had been out of public view since making a speech at a business conference last October in Shanghai, accusing regulators of stifling innovation and blocking opportunities.   
 
Several weeks later, the government suspended the debut of the Ant Group, a spinoff of Alibaba, as a publicly traded company on Hong Kong and Shanghai exchanges, a move that cost the company $37 billion, which would have set the record profit for an initial public offering
 
The People’s Bank of China later ordered Ant to return to its “payment origins,” enhance transparency around transactions and prohibit unfair competition. Ant began as a payments service for Alibaba, the world’s biggest online retail company, and evolved over time as one of the world’s biggest online financial services companies, offering such services  as loans, investing and insurance. 
 
The Bank’s decision on Ant coincided with the Chinese government’s market regulation agency decision to open an anti-monopoly investigation into Alibaba. The probe is looking into the company’s practice of forcing its business partners to choose either Alibaba or a rival competitor, instead of allowing them to sell their merchandise through both outlets.
Alibaba was founded in 1999 by Jack Ma, who has become the richest businessman in China with an estimated net worth of $59 billion. 
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Officials in Japan’s northern Miyagi Prefecture say a snowstorm that blanketed the region Tuesday caused a multi-car pile-up that left one driver dead, at least 10 injured and stranded about 200 people in at least 130 vehicles.Japanese television showed video from the scene with many emergency crews attempting to help motorists, while snow continued to fall.Japan’s Meteorological Agency’s regional headquarters in Miyagi Prefecture’s capital, Sendai, is forecasting more heavy snow along with high winds into Wednesday in Japan’s Hokuriku, Tohoku and Hokkaido regions, with record snowfall of up to 50 centimeters.
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Officials in China Tuesday say rescuers are racing to save miners who have been trapped underground for nine days. Food and medical supplies taped to wire cable were lowered down to them.
 
Chinese state media reported that 22 workers were trapped at the Hushan gold mine near Yantai in eastern Shandong province after an explosion damaged the entrance on January 10.
 
Reports say rescuers have been in contact with the workers through a telephone connection. They confirmed that 12 of the miners are alive, though some are injured and water in the shaft is rising. In a note passed to the surface, the miners told rescuers, “Don’t stop trying to reach us.”
 
 China’s Xinhua news service says 11 of the miners are in one location while the 12th is separated from the others.
 
It is unclear if the other 10 men are still alive.  
 
The Chinese media reports say rescuers have dug narrow shafts through which they have sent food, medicine, paper and pencils down to the miners. Meanwhile, hundreds of workers are attempting to dig rescue shafts to reach them.
 
Footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed rescuers attempting to clear the main return shaft, while cranes and a massive bore-hole drill was used to dig new rescue channels to reach the trapped miners.
 
Chinese media reports rescue teams lost precious time as it took more than a day for the accident to be reported. 
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