Taiwan, largely spared from the global coronavirus pandemic since it began last year, is grappling with a small but still uncontained outbreak that appeared last month. Since April 20, Taiwan’s Central Epidemic Command Center has confirmed infections of 10 pilots working for the Taiwan-based international carrier China Airlines and eight relatives of pilots. At the Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport hotel, which is next to the island’s chief international airport, four employees, three of their family members and a hotel contractor have been diagnosed since April 29. On Tuesday, the command center reported two new COVID-19 cases, both airline employees. Authorities expect it will take another week or two to determine how wide the outbreak has spread. Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told a news conference Sunday the cluster does not qualify yet as a “community outbreak” but cautioned people to follow guidance on avoiding infections. “Until May 17 we will be in a period of high-level alert, so please everyone cooperate,” Chen told a Tuesday news conference. Command center officials have disclosed the movements of people who were recently infected so anyone who might have crossed paths can be tested for the virus. Potential infection spots include buses, convenience stores and restaurants in northern Taiwan including the capital Taipei, Centers for Disease Control deputy director Luo Yi-jun said. The command center says hundreds of contacts and potential contacts of the 24 patients confirmed through Monday had already been tested for infection. “Two days before these people showed symptoms, they were infectious, so this outbreak poses a very big challenge to the whole community,” said Chiu Cheng-hsun, vice superintendent at Linkou Chang Gung Hospital’s pediatric respiratory department. “Right now, there’s an extremely high risk, an extremely high chance, of a community [caseload].” Any more COVID-19 cases pegged to the airline, or the hotel should show up within the month, Chiu said. A wider outbreak would be Taiwan’s first runaway caseload since COVID-19 began gripping the world in early 2020. FILE – People wearing masks to protect against the coronavirus shop ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, in Taipei, Taiwan, Feb. 9, 2021.Most people in Taiwan, population 24 million, are keeping their hands clean, wearing masks and disinfecting their surroundings, health professionals in Taiwan say. But they show few signs of changing their lifestyles otherwise. “I think the general Taiwanese public at this moment probably doesn’t believe Taiwan overall is so dangerous or so dire, and they’re not on such high alert, because Taiwan was a good student over the past last year, like it performed well,” said Wu Chia-yi, associate professor in the National Taiwan University College of Medicine’s nursing faculty. But she said some people feel “depressed” or “anxious,” especially if in a hospital and exposed to patients’ blood. People around Taiwan should step up disease prevention habits, such as mask wearing and hand washing, that might have slacked before the recent outbreak, Chiu said. The command center said last week it is exploring whether pilots of foreign-registered airlines set off the Novotel cluster. “Novotel teams are fully cooperating and following protocols and measurements as advised by the local authorities,” the command center said in statement. “Meanwhile, our focus is to closely monitor the progress of our staff members and guests who are currently under quarantine. The safety and wellbeing of our staff and guests are our absolute priority.” Taiwan’s success in warding off COVID-19 has allowed people to keep working and going out as usual. The government controlled the virus spread in early 2020 through inspections of inbound aircraft, strict quarantine rules and rigorous contact tracing. Taiwan has logged a cumulative 1,153 cases with 12 deaths. The most recent localized outbreak occurred in December when an infected Eva Airways pilot sparked cluster of four people. Those cases prompted a wave of event cancellations and new restrictions on inbound pilots. Almost all other cases since the start of the pandemic are Taiwan residents returning from overseas. On Tuesday, the command center said it would step up disease controls by restricting bedside visits to hospital patients. Hospitals are tightening their own precautions, particularly in emergency rooms. 
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The first phase of the COVID-19 vaccine rollout has started in Papua New Guinea, as infection numbers continue to rise. Experts say Australia’s nearest neighbor is also fighting a sea of misinformation and concerns over the safety of vaccines. Experts say misinformation about COVID-19 is spreading even faster in Papua New Guinea than the disease. Conspiracy theories and other falsehoods have found fertile ground online. Adding to a sense of mistrust are deeply held beliefs in sorcery. Aid workers have reported that the family of a health worker in Papua New Guinea, who tested positive for the virus, was tortured by relatives fearful of unexplained illness.  Jonathan Pryke is the director of the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based research organization. He says hoaxes spread on social media about the novel coronavirus add to the confusion.  “Facebook is where you get all of your information from, and Facebook is just seeding misinformation and misinformation is spreading faster than the virus in that country,” Pryke said.The World Health Organization reported 11,206 COVID-19 cases and 115 deaths Tuesday in Papua New Guinea. Pryke believes the true scale of pandemic in the Pacific island nation is far worse because of a lack of testing and patients with symptoms refuse or fear retaliation from within their communities, preventing them from seeking treatment. Prior to the pandemic, sorcery-related violence against victims has been rampant in the country according to news reports. “The official statistics do not look as serious as the true picture is and, you know, there is a lot of data points you can look at that display just how serious this is. We have had a sitting member of parliament die; we have had two judges die. It is bad. It is a health system that is so stretched to breaking point that it really cannot handle the shock. We are seeing this crisis play out in front of our very eyes,” Pryke said.The pandemic has been felt differently across the Pacific. Some countries have, so far, escaped unscathed. According to the World Health Organization, Tonga has not recorded any infections since the pandemic began. Samoa has had just a single confirmed case, and three cases have been recorded in Vanuatu. Fiji has recorded more than 100 coronavirus infections and two people have died, WHO reported. A mass inoculation program is underway in French Polynesia. So far, there have been almost 19,000 cases detected and 141 deaths in the past 15 months. However, it is reopening its international borders only to vaccinated travelers from the United States, who have already tested negative for COVID. The U.S. territory of Guam has reported its latest figures with 7,700 infections and 136 deaths due to the pandemic. Currently, Guam has a 14-day quarantine period in place for all passengers entering through air or sea.  
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Donald Trump approached North Korea with threats of “fire and fury,” followed by made-for-television summits with its leader, Kim Jong Un. For Barack Obama, it was “strategic patience,” which tried to use steady economic and military pressure to convince Pyongyang to return to talks. Now President Joe Biden is attempting what U.S. officials describe as a middle ground between his predecessors’ approaches, which they acknowledge failed to achieve U.S. objectives. White House officials late last week unveiled the broad outlines of Biden’s North Korea strategy, following a months long internal review. Under Biden’s plan, the U.S. will maintain pressure on North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons but will also pursue talks — and perhaps even intermediate deals — to help advance that goal. White House confirms it has finished its North Korea policy review.“Our policy will not focus on achieving a grand bargain nor will it rely on strategic patience,” says FILE – People watch a TV showing an image of North Korea’s new guided missile during a news program at the Suseo Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, March 26, 2021.But the Biden administration appears to be leaving the door open for improved relations, even short of a grand bargain with North Korea. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Friday the U.S. will pursue “a calibrated, practical approach” that will explore “options for diplomacy.”  Speaking to The Washington Post, a U.S. official went further, saying the U.S. may offer North Korea unspecified “relief” in exchange for “particular steps,” even while retaining the “ultimate goal of denuclearization.”  “If the Trump administration was everything for everything, Obama was nothing for nothing … this is something in the middle,” the U.S. official told the paper. As of now, Biden’s policy could be dubbed a “something for something” approach, quipped John Delury, a professor at Seoul’s Yonsei University.  Loving this. They might reject labels but for now calling it the “Something for Something” strategy. FILE – People wearing protective face masks commute amid concerns over the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Pyongyang, North Korea, March 30, 2020, in this photo released by Kyodo.While little is known about North Korea’s pandemic situation, it plays a major role in when Pyongyang will choose to engage the U.S., says Park Won-gon, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul. “We all know that North Korea simply does not have any means to deal with this pandemic,” he says, noting the issue is a major security threat for Kim’s rule. On Sunday, a senior North Korean diplomat lashed out at Biden, calling Washington’s efforts at diplomacy a disguise for its “hostile policy.”  The North Korean diplomat also expressed frustration that the U.S. and South Korea recently conducted joint military drills. In a separate statement, a North Korean official took issue with the Biden administration’s recent criticism of Pyongyang’s human rights record. Step-by-step  North Korea has boycotted talks with the U.S. since 2019. At a summit in February of that year, Trump rejected an offer in which North Korea would dismantle a key nuclear complex in exchange for the U.S. lifting most sanctions. FILE – John Bolton, left, and others attend an extended bilateral meeting between North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump, in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 28, 2019.Trump preferred a more wide-ranging deal in which the U.S. would lift all sanctions in exchange for North Korea completely dismantling its nuclear program. A growing number of former U.S. officials and other Korea watchers have criticized that all-or-nothing approach, saying it may be necessary to focus on reducing rather than eliminating the threat. As Biden Mulls North Korea, Some Urge Arms Control ApproachThe United States has long demanded the complete denuclearization of North Korea, even as a wide range of Korea watchers agreed that will likely never happenWhile the Biden administration is signaling “step-by-step diplomatic engagement,” much depends on how North Korea responds in the coming months, says Leif-Eric Easley, another professor at Ewha University. “If Pyongyang agrees to working-level talks, the starting point of negotiations would be a freeze of North Korean testing and development of nuclear capabilities and delivery systems,” Easley says. “If, on the other hand, Kim shuns diplomacy and opts for provocative tests, Washington will likely expand sanctions enforcement and military exercises with allies.” More challenges coming?  North Korea last month conducted a short-range missile test, its first ballistic missile launch in about a year. Pyongyang has hinted bigger tests may be coming.
It is not clear how Biden would respond to such launches. Biden criticized last month’s test as a violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions and warned of more responses should North Korea escalate.  “The Biden administration has been clear that the era of love letters and theatrical summits as a starting point for diplomacy is over,” says Jean Lee, director of the Korea Program at The Wilson Center in Washington D.C. “Hopefully, the administration will build on the diplomatic progress made over the past four years instead of jettisoning everything from the Trump years — but come up with a long-term strategy that takes all stakeholders in the region into account,” she adds.  Will Biden be proactive?  But some in the region, especially South Korea, fear North Korea will not be a priority for Biden, who is focused on issues such as the coronavirus pandemic, economy, and reviving the Iran nuclear deal. “It’s a negative agenda item for Biden because there’s low return and high risk,” says Kim Joon-hyung, chancellor of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy, which trains South Korean diplomats.South Korean army soldiers stand guard at a military post at the Imjingak Pavilion near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, May 2, 2021.In Kim’s view, the Biden administration should be proactive and meet the North Koreans as soon as possible. He also recommends that the U.S. be open to compromise, noting that North Korea’s nuclear program is growing every year.“If the U.S. wants all or nothing,” he says, “then they can always get nothing.” 
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The Philippine foreign minister on Monday demanded in an expletive-laced message on Twitter that China’s vessels get out of disputed waters, marking the latest exchange in a war of words with Beijing over its activities in the South China Sea. The comments by Teodoro Locsin, known for making blunt remarks at times, follow Manila’s protests for what it calls the “illegal” presence of hundreds of Chinese boats inside the Philippines 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). “China, my friend, how politely can I put it? Let me see… O…GET THE F— OUT,” Locsin said in a tweet on his personal account. “What are you doing to our friendship? You. Not us. We’re trying. You. You’re like an ugly oaf forcing your attentions on a handsome guy who wants to be a friend; not to father a Chinese province…,” Locsin said. China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.  Chinese officials have previously said the vessels at the disputed Whitsun Reef were fishing boats taking refuge from rough seas. China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $3 trillion of ship-borne trade passes each year. In 2016, an arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled the claim, which Beijing bases on its old maps, was inconsistent with international law. In a statement on Monday, the Philippine foreign ministry accused China’s coast guard of “shadowing, blocking, dangerous maneuvers, and radio challenges of the Philippine coast guard vessels.” Philippine officials believe the Chinese vessels are manned by militia. On Sunday, the Philippines vowed to continue maritime exercises in its EEZ in the South China Sea in response to a China  demand that it stop actions it said could escalate disputes. As of April 26, the Philippines had filed 78 diplomatic protests to China since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in 2016, foreign ministry data shows. “Our statements are stronger too because of the more brazen nature of the activities, the number, frequency and proximity of intrusions,” Marie Yvette Banzon-Abalos, executive director for strategic communications at the foreign ministry, said. Duterte for the most part has pursued warmer ties with China in exchange for Beijing’s promises of billions of dollars in investment, aid and loans. While the Philippine leader still considers China “a good friend,” he said last week: “There are things that are not really subject to a compromise.”  
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An inquiry into Australian gymnastics has found evidence of widespread abuse, sexism, racism and authoritarian coaching practices, according to a damning report published Monday.   Amid a “global reckoning” for the sport, the Australian Human Rights Commission said it found a culture that tolerated emotional, verbal, physical and sexual abuse, as well as medical negligence and body-shaming directed at young athletes over decades.    The commission recommended an independent investigation into specific abuse allegations and a formal apology from gymnastics authorities, as well as stricter screening and a national register of coaches, who often have an outsized influence over vulnerable young women.   Gymnastics Australia called the findings “confronting” and said it “unreservedly apologizes to all athletes and family members who have experienced any form of abuse”. It promised to adopt all 12 recommendations.    The world of gymnastics has been rocked by a series of scandals in recent times. In the United States, former team doctor Larry Nassar was found guilty of sexually assaulting at least 265 identified victims over two decades, including star Simone Biles.   In Britain, accusations of abuse have made headlines while in Greece former gymnasts complained of having suffered decades of abuse “akin to torture” at the hands of one of their coaches.    The Australian inquiry was launched after local athletes took to social media to comment on the documentary “Athlete A” which concerned the allegations about Nassar. Among the Australians sharing their own negative experiences was Yasmin Collier, who spoke of having to strip naked in front of a male adult masseuse.  The Australian commission received hundreds of submissions before delivering its final report.   “While many athletes have had positive experiences and relationships with their coaches, there was a persistent use of ‘authoritarian’ or highly disciplinary coaching styles,” their report said.   “A focus on ‘winning-at-all-costs’ and an acceptance of negative and abusive coaching behaviors has resulted in the silencing of the athlete voice and an increased risk of abuse and harm with significant short- and long-term impacts to gymnasts,” it stated. 
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Thailand’s southernmost provinces bordering Malaysia have been the center of an insurgency since 2004. Over 7,000 people have been killed — mostly civilians — caught up in the fighting between shadowy Malay-Muslim rebels and Thai security forces. But a new generation is determined to reclaim a space from violence. Vijitra Duangdee reports for VOA from Pattani.
Camera: Black Squirrel Productions
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Thousands of anti-coup protesters marched in Myanmar Sunday, calling for a “spring revolution” with the country in its fourth month under a military regime.Cities, rural areas, remote mountainous regions and even rebel-controlled border territories have been in uproar since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in a February 1 coup.The junta has aimed to suppress dissent through a brutal crackdown involving mass arrests and an escalating death toll.Demonstrations kicked off early in commercial hub Yangon as activists called for a show of force and a “spring revolution”.Youths gathered on a street corner before marching swiftly down the streets in a flash mob — dispersing soon after to avoid clashing with authorities.People protest in Hlaing Township, Yangon, Myanmar, May 2, 2021, in this still image from a video.”To bring down the military dictatorship is our cause!” they chanted, waving a three-finger salute of resistance.In eastern Shan state, youths carried a banner that read: “We cannot be ruled at all.”Local media reported that security forces were chasing protesters down and arresting them.”They are arresting every young person they see,” a source in Yangon told AFP, adding that he was hiding at the time.”Now I am trapped.”Protesters take part in a demonstration against the military coup during “Global Myanmar Spring Revolution Day” in Taunggyi, Shan state, May 2, 2021.Bomb blasts also went off across different parts of Yangon on Sunday. Explosions have been happening with increasing frequency in the former capital, and authorities have blamed it on “instigators.”Bloodshed across the countrySo far, security forces have killed 759 civilians, according to local monitoring group the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.The junta — which has labelled the AAPP an unlawful organization — says 258 protesters have been killed, along with 17 policemen and seven soldiers.Violence erupted again on Sunday by 10 am in Shan state’s Hsipaw township, when security forces opened fire on protesters, killing at least one.”He was shot in the head and died immediately,” said one protester, who said he rushed to hide his friend’s body in case authorities tried to take it away.”They are asking for his dead body, but we will not give them… We will have his funeral today,” he told AFP.In northern Kachin state, security forces also fired on protesters, even flinging grenades into the crowd.A 33-year-old man was shot in the head, a fellow demonstrator told AFP, adding that many others were wounded in the attack.”They all had to be treated at a hidden area. They could not go to the hospital for treatment or they would have been arrested,” the protester said. Urban centers have become hotspots for unrest, especially in Yangon, where residents share videos of security forces beating up civilians on the streets.Night raids and arrests are also common, with informers reporting to authorities about people suspected to be aiding the anti-coup movement.Mourners attending the funeral, April 29, 2021, of Felix Thang Muan Lian, a night security guard at a gas station who was shot by security forces on his way to work in Dedin in western Myanmar’s Chin state. (Credit: Chin World)State-run newspaper Mirror Daily reported that a woman accused of supporting an underground parallel government opposing the junta was sentenced by military tribunal to seven years in prison with hard labor.She had been arrested in Yangon’s North Dagon Township — which is currently under martial law — after police had raided her home and searched her Facebook and Telegram messaging apps.Airstrikes in the eastThe junta’s violence against civilians has drawn the ire of Myanmar’s myriad ethnic armies — many of whom have been battling the military for decades in the country’s border regions.Among the most prominent opponents is the Karen National Union (KNU), which has admitted offering shelter to fleeing activists in the territory they control along Myanmar’s east.Clashes have ramped up in Karen state between the KNU’s fighters and the military, which has responded with serious artillery power and airstrikes in towns next to the Thai border.Thai authorities announced that the Myanmar military fired rocket offensives from the air to a KNU base on Saturday, and grenade launchers and sporadic gunfire could be heard throughout the day from the kingdom’s bordering Mae Hong Son province.A letter was sent last week to Myanmar counterparts calling for the military to “increase caution on airstrikes to avoid it falling into Thai territories”, said Sunday’s statement from Mae Hong Son province.”[This] could cause danger to Thais living on the border and affect the good relationship,” it said.So far, more than 2,300 Myanmar nationals have crossed over for refuge.Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has justified the putsch by saying it was done to defend democracy, alleging electoral fraud in November’s elections, which Suu Kyi’s party won in a landslide.  
 
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Not long after enjoying their first taste of freedom, Myanmar’s journalists say they are barely able to function, as the soldiers who toppled the country’s democratically elected government three months ago have moved to choke off the flow of information through intimidation, arrests, and violence.In interviews with Radio Free Asia, or RFA, multiple reporters, editors, and photographers — speaking from hiding and on condition of anonymity to protect their safety — say the junta that deposed Aung San Suu Kyi and her government on Feb. 1 has made it dangerous and difficult to gather news about the biggest story of their lives.The media professionals cite a litany of measures — including internet and satellite blackouts, confiscation of mobile phones, closures of independent media outlets, beatings, and arrests — that the military regime is using to thwart them and to scare off sources from talking to media.“Journalists are living in fear because there is no safety for us,” a senior editor from a Myanmar news agency told RFA’s Myanmar Service this week.“Many reporters have been arrested. Some of us have been barred from reporting,” the editor said.“We cannot contact any of our sources due to the internet blackout, we cannot make phone calls effectively and we cannot carry our mobile phones as we travel,” the editor said.“If they check Facebook accounts, the journalists will be arrested one way or another. We cannot carry any reporting gadgets now,” the editor added. “The flow of news in this country has almost stopped.”A multimedia journalist from Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city, told RFA that no one is safe from the junta efforts to clamp down on coverage of nationwide protests that have seen millions turn out in protests rejecting the coup, and violent crackdowns that have killed more than 750 people, mostly civilians.“Previously they would excuse journalists who were working for international outlets, but now they arrest everyone. They are also terminating licenses for local media outlets, so it is not inaccurate to say that media freedom is completely gone,” the Mandalay journalist said.Conditions have never been great for journalists in a country run by military men for two-thirds of its 72-year existence as modern state, but they were improving during a political thaw and the transition from a quasi-military government to civilian rule from 2013-17, according to Reporters Without Borders.Protesters take part in a demonstration against the military coup during Global Myanmar Spring Revolution Day in Taunggyi, Myanmar, on May 2, 2021.During that time frame, the country’s rank in RSF’s annual freedom index rose considerably, and “Myanmar’s journalists hoped they would never again have to fear arrest or imprisonment for criticizing the government or military,” the Paris-based media freedom watchdog group said in a recent report.“The coup d’état … brought that fragile progress to an abrupt end and set Myanmar’s journalists back 10 years,” lamented RSF.The Mandalay journalist said that the situation is so bad that people can’t use mobile phones in public, because security forces now search everyone and arrest and beat those who carry mobile phones, or demand cash to avoid legal prosecution, sources said.If they find photos, videos, or social media posts they deem offensive to the military, they press charges and confiscate gear. In some cases, they confiscate expensive, latest-model phones without finding any offending content, or demand cash if they are unable to extract fines because their target left their phone alone.“They inspect everyone’s mobile phone. Journalists cannot go out and do their jobs because we always have news photos on our phones,” the Mandalay journalist said.“Some of us wear helmets with a prominent ‘PRESS’ label on them, but that only gets us targeted for beatings from the authorities. We have seen them going after reporters in the field, to arrest them,” the Mandalay journalist added.“It’s now very dangerous for reporters. We have to take videos from a distance, and that’s not great for many multimedia platforms, as we have to use these poor-quality videos shot from such a distance,” the reporter added.A Yangon photojournalist said the junta’s security forces have actively prevented him from covering events.“As I travel into the field to take photos, the authorities have opened my bag to inspect it. They asked me to surrender my memory cards,” the photojournalist said.Freelance reporters who cannot afford to rent a car take public buses, “so now the authorities are stopping … buses for inspections,” added the Yangon photojournalist.“We cannot know where they will be inspecting, because the inspections on buses and vehicles are sudden,” added the photojournalist.Citizens are also afraid to talk to the media or be photographed out of fear that they could be identified and punished by the junta.“As I try to cover news from different parts of the country, it is rare that the people open up and confide in me with all the information they have. They have lost their trust in the media because the military is using all kinds of tactics to suppress freedom of speech and the press,” said the senior editor.People on the streets of Myanmar’s largest city “get nervous as soon as they see someone holding a camera,” sad the Yangon photojournalist.“It used to be pretty easy to get a photo or video because the people would work with us. But lately they are worried about repression,” the photojournalist said.“Some people in the neighborhood are suspected military informants, so when you hold a camera, people might think you are an informant.”According to an RFA tally, 73 journalists and media personnel have been arrested since the coup on Feb. 1, and 44 remain in detention.While Myanmar journalists had looked at the rule of Suu Kyi as a golden era for reporting, RSF said dark clouds were already gathering midway through her 2015-20 term.It cited the prosecution in 2018 of two Reuters reporters who had revealed an army massacre of Muslim Rohingya civilians in western Myanmar and were jailed for 500 days, or for about a year and a half, “on the basis of fabricated evidence and bogus criminal proceedings.”“This coup was not a complete surprise inasmuch as the climate for press freedom had already been worsening again during the past three years,” said RSF.
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North Korea has lashed out at President Joe Biden, warning the U.S. will face a “very grave situation,” after the White House announced the broad outlines of its plan for diplomacy with Pyongyang.The statement, issued Sunday by a senior North Korean diplomat, was the country’s first official reaction to the Biden administration’s just-completed North Korea policy review, which expresses an openness to talks with the nuclear-armed country.Kwon Jong Gun, director general of the Department of U.S. Affairs of the North’s Foreign Ministry, dismissed the U.S. approach as a “spurious signboard for covering up its hostile acts” against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the country’s official name.“Now that … the keynote of the U.S. new DPRK policy has become clear, we will be compelled to press for corresponding measures, and with time the U.S. will find itself in a very grave situation,” Kwon said, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.“The U.S. will face worse and worse crisis beyond control in the near future if it is set to approach the DPRK-U.S. ties, still holding on the outdated policy from Cold War-minded perspective and viewpoint,” he added.Middle approachFollowing a monthslong internal review, the White House on Friday announced a general overview of its North Korea plan. The policy attempts to take a middle approach between those of Biden’s recent predecessors.“Our policy will not focus on achieving a grand bargain, nor will it rely on strategic patience,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki. “Our policy calls for a calibrated, practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy with the DPRK and to make practical progress that increases the security of the United States, our allies and deployed forces.”FILE – Then-President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, in Hanoi, Vietnam, Feb. 28, 2019.North Korea has boycotted talks with the U.S. since 2019. In February of that year, a summit between then-U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended abruptly after Trump rejected Kim’s offer of sanctions relief for partial steps to dismantle his nuclear program.Biden, who took office in January, has long been critical of Trump’s meetings with Kim. He believes top-level meetings should occur only if there is progress on denuclearization.But Biden is also attempting to discard aspects of the approach taken by former President Barack Obama, who relied on a policy of “strategic patience.” That plan sought to apply carefully calibrated economic and military pressure until Pyongyang was ready to make concessions at the negotiating table.Human rightsNorth Korea seems unhappy with either approach. In their statements Sunday, North Korean officials slammed recent joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises. It also accused the Biden administration of “insult[ing] the dignity of our supreme leadership” by criticizing Pyongyang’s human rights record.Last week, the U.S. Department of State issued a statement noting the “millions of North Koreans who continue to have their dignity and human rights violated by one of the most repressive and totalitarian states in the world.”In response, a North Korean Foreign Ministry official said Sunday that Pyongyang “will be forced to take corresponding measures.”“We have warned the U.S. sufficiently enough to understand that it will get hurt if it provokes us. The U.S. will surely and certainly regret for acting lightly, defying our warnings,” the official said.FILE – People watch a TV showing an image of North Korea’s new guided missile during a news program at the Suseo Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, March 26, 2021.More tests coming?North Korea in March conducted its first ballistic missile test in about a year. Many experts had expected North Korea to resume tests near the outset of Biden’s term, as it has done with past U.S. administrations.Kim said in January of last year that he no longer felt bound by his self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear tests.Pyongyang has not conducted a nuclear test or launched an intercontinental ballistic missile since 2017, before Kim’s diplomacy with Trump.
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Australians stuck in India could face up to five years in jail if they breach a COVID-19 travel ban to return home starting early next week. Australia has stopped all direct flights from India in a bid to cut coronavirus cases in its hotel quarantine system.
 
This is thought to be the first time Australians have been banned from traveling to their own country with the threat of civil penalties and up to five years in prison against people who attempt to make it home despite regulations. Health Minister Greg Hunt said the restriction will take effect Monday.
 
Starting then, Australian nationals and permanent residents will not be allowed in if they have visited India in the past two weeks.
 
To enforce the restriction, the government is taking the travel ban a bit further. Any of Australia’s citizens caught breaching the ban could face a fine of up to $50,000. They could also face prison under changes made to Australia’s biosecurity laws.  
 
In the capital, Canberra, the government said the drastic measures were necessary because of what it has described as the “unmanageable” number of citizens arriving in Australia with COVID-19.  
 
The federal government defended the decision, saying that it is about public safety. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says Australia’s political leaders have decided that a cautious approach is needed.
 
“When [the] national cabinet met, they received the most up-to-date briefing from our chief medical officers and their advice is that we need to put in place these secure measures with respect to people coming from India to Australia. So, they are temporary, they will be reviewed on the 15th of May, but they are designed, based on the medical advice, to keep Australians safe,” Frydenberg said.
 
An estimated 9,000 Australians are stranded in India, critics say, and the Australian government is abandoning them as the pandemic reaches beyond what observers have called a “catastrophe.”  
 
Direct flights between the two nations have been suspended by authorities in Canberra. It has emerged, however, that some passengers — including high-profile cases such as cricketers leaving the Indian Premier League early — have managed to circumvent the ban and reach Australia via Qatar, according to news reports. That loophole will now close beginning Monday.  
 
Australia shut its borders to foreign nationals more than a year ago as part of a strict coronavirus strategy.  
 
Australian citizens and permanent residents, apart from those who have been in India in the past two weeks, are allowed to return, but they face two weeks in mandatory hotel quarantine when they arrive. Quotas apply, though, and thousands of people have been unable to get home.  
 
Australia has managed to contain community transmission of the coronavirus. All reported cases — 21 in total — in the past day were detected in hotel quarantine.
 
Australia has recorded 29,801 COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began. Nine hundred ten people have died, according to official government figures.  
 
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Gathered in a practice room, five generously proportioned young men in baggy black sweaters are patting their bellies and waggling their arms. Bearded with double chins, they shout “Hoo-Ha!” in time to upbeat African drums.The choreography is for the new song Good Belly, by Produce Pandas. DING, Cass, Husky, Otter and Mr. 17 weigh an average of 100 kilograms and proudly call themselves “the first plus-sized boy band in China.”That is a radical departure from the industry standard seen in South Korean super groups such as BTS, whose lanky young members are sometimes referred to in China as “little fresh meat.”Yet, it seems to be working for Produce Pandas, who rose to fame after making it about halfway through Youth with You, an idol talent competition hosted by iQiyi, one of the largest video platforms in China.On the show, mentors and audience voters pick nine finalists, either individuals or group members, to come together to form a new band.“The five of us may not have the standard look and shape of a boy band but we hope to use the term ‘plus-sized band’ to break the aesthetic stereotypes,” Cass said in an interview.The five, two of whom formerly sang in bars, are also unusual for their relatively advanced ages in an industry that worships youth and stamina. Most of their fellow contestants on Youth with You began South Korean-style training while in their teens.While Produce Pandas excited audiences and sparked discussion about how a pop idol should look, some taunting also appeared online.Users of China’s Weibo microblog seized on the Chinese word for panda, a homonym of which appears in the Chinese name for the Japanese horror movie Ring, suggesting that watching them dance was similarly frightening.Mr. 17, the band’s main dancer, was the oldest contestant in the competition at age 31. He had been discovered on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, where he posted clips of himself dancing in pajamas or while holding a bowl of rice.Otter, a member of the Chinese music group Produce Pandas, sings during rehearsals in Beijing, April 15, 2021.He nicknamed himself “17” after his favorite age. The former petroleum company worker said he does not feel old, but admits that after rehearsals, “I felt my energy was emptied.”The five were solicited from more than 300 hopefuls by Beijing-based DMDF Entertainment, which wanted to build a band that would be rotund and approachable as well as inspiring.Husky, who worked in information technology, thought he would fit in perfectly because he has been chubby since primary school and has failed repeatedly to lose weight.“I often work out one day then take a rest for the next three days, so the result is clear that I gained some weight instead,” he said. The point is “stay in shape (and) not to lose weight, but to lose fat.”Echoing Husky, Cass said the upside to being on such a team is that they do not need to abstain when it comes to food.“We don’t mind eating like a horse. I feel sorry for the ‘little fresh meat’ bands whose members must follow a diet to stay slim. I feel great whenever they look on enviously as we dig in!”Team leader DING quit plus-sized modeling when he heard about auditioning for an “XXL” boy band, saying, “I feel this is probably the closest I can get to being on a magazine cover.”The five are now working on a new album, with songs including Pursue Your Dreams.“Saddle up on the horse and pursue your dreams. Don’t idle your time away,” the lyrics go.Vocalist Otter, who has idolized the South Korean boy band Super Junior since he was 7, never thought he could be in a band that lives and performs together, and more importantly, encourages ordinary folk.“I hope people will feel encouraged when watching our performance,” he said. They can think, “If Produce Pandas can make a breakthrough and perform on a bigger stage, then why can’t I?”
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Comments by Philippine officials indicate that, with a growing Chinese maritime threat, Manila now hopes the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States – which the Philippines once moved to terminate – survives, experts told VOA Thursday.
 
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. last year announced the country had suspended the announced termination of the agreement. The 1999 pact provides for arms sales, intelligence exchanges and discussions on military cooperation. It allows U.S. troops access to Philippine soil for military exercises aimed at regional security and local humanitarian work. Those measures shore up a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.
 
Locsin said in a tweet earlier this month that negotiations over the pact were nearly finished, Philippine media reported last week. The talks began in February and coincided with China’s mooring of 220 fishing boats at a reef that Beijing and Manila dispute. Media reports quote Locsin saying the talks should be done within the coming week.
 
On April 10, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Philippine counterpart Delfin Lorenzana, and they “affirmed the value” of the agreement, the U.S. Defense Department says on its website.
 
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, a skeptic of the United States who announced the deal’s termination in February 2020, said on national TV just over two months ago he wanted to hear public opinion on the topic. Many lawmakers have already opposed the pact’s termination — which has been suspended twice.FILE – This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows Chinese vessels at the Whitsun reef, in a disputed part of the South China Sea, March 23, 2021.Saving the deal
 
Philippine officials have not said negotiations would save the agreement, but specialists say they believe comments from Manila show officials hope it holds up.
 
“There’s an emerging consensus within the key agencies, and I think something that we can see in terms of public opinion as well,” said Herman Kraft, a political science professor at University of the Philippines at Diliman, pointing to comments by defense and foreign ministry officials.   
 
The Philippine government now wants the agreement updated to spell out explicitly that the United States would intervene to help defend outlying islands where Chinese vessels are most likely to appear, an academic close to Philippine defense officials said.  
   
The United States had governed the Philippines for more than five decades before allowing its independence after World War II. For Washington today, the Philippines represents one in a chain of Western Pacific allies that can work together to check Chinese maritime expansion. Former U.S. defense secretary Mark Esper had called the deal cancellation a “move in the wrong direction for the longstanding relationship we’ve had with the Philippines” in part because of the Asian archipelago’s location.
 
“Rather than maintain strategic ambiguity — this was the practice in the past — [Philippine officials] prefer some strategic clarity,” said Eduardo Araral, associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s public policy school.Sino-Philippine maritime dispute
 
China and the Philippines dispute sovereignty over tracts of the South China Sea.
 
Their dispute eased in 2016 after Manila won a world arbitral court ruling against Beijing and Duterte pursued a new friendship with China. However, Philippine officials grew alarmed when about 100 Chinese boats showed up in 2019 near a Philippine-held islet in the sea and again when the fleet of 220 stopped at Whitsun Reef last month.
 
Ongoing “tension with China” gives the Philippine government a new incentive to keep the Visiting Forces Agreement, said Aaron Rabena, research fellow at the Asia-Pacific Pathways to Progress Foundation in Metro Manila.
 
China, which maintains Asia’s strongest armed forces, cites historic documents to support its claim to about 90% of the disputed sea. Four other governments call all or part of the same sea their own. China has alarmed many over the past decade by landfilling islets for military installations.  
 
Smaller claimants welcome a U.S. role in the dispute, and the United States — China’s superpower rival — doubled the number of warship passages through the sea in 2019 compared to 2018.
 Delicate decision
 
A decision in Manila to uphold the agreement would upset China, which could in turn increase its boat count in the disputed sea, Kraft said. It could go as far as banning Philippine fishing operations, he said. The sea is valued for fisheries as well as undersea fuel reserves.
 
However, Duterte risks being seen as weak at home if he reinstates the U.S. pact after thundering against it in February 2020, experts say. Duterte, a long-time anti-U.S. firebrand, ordered an end to the deal after the U.S. government canceled a visa for a Philippine senator and former police chief who was instrumental in a deadly anti-drug campaign that generated outrage abroad.
 
Duterte might end up letting his foreign affairs and defense secretaries handle the whole Visiting Forces Agreement process, Kraft said. The Philippines could technically keep suspending its cancelation of the deal every six months until deciding what to do, Araral said.
 
The government could extend the review process into mid-2022, when Duterte must step down due to term limits, Rabena said.
 
“He doesn’t have to say yes to it,” Rabena said. “What he does sometimes is that he just allows his cabinet members to do their thing.” 
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