Two prominent members of the U.S. Congress issued a stern warning to China on Friday in response to arrest warrants issued for six pro-democracy activists, including a U.S citizen, under Hong Kong’s new national security law.Chinese state television said Friday Hong Kong authorities had issued warrants for Nathan Law, Wayne Chan Ka-kui, Honcques Laus, Simon Cheng, Ray Wong Toi-yeung and Samuel Chu, a U.S. citizen. The six have fled the territory and are wanted on suspicion of violating the national security legislation that entered into force a month ago.Congressman Eliot Engel, Chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, and Senator Robert Menendez, the senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement, “If Beijing thinks that this effort will silence those who stand for freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law, it is gravely mistaken: Today we are all Hong Kongers.”Engel and Menendez said they were deeply concerned by the decision of pro-Beijing authorities of the semi-autonomous territory, which included “an extraterritorial warrant for the arrest of an individual who has been a United States citizen for over two decades.”“This action only further undermines the credibility of China as a responsible rule-abiding member of the international community,” they said.
…
Category: East
East news. East is the direction toward which the Earth rotates about its axis, and therefore the general direction from which the Sun appears to rise. The practice of praying towards the East is older than Christianity, but has been adopted by this religion as the Orient was thought of as containing mankind’s original home
China Considers Toughening Rules for Foreign English Teachers
China recently issued new draft rules aimed at toughening oversight of foreign teachers in the country, requiring them to undergo ideological training sessions and creating a new social credit rating system to monitor their conduct.Arrests and deportations of foreign teachers in China have soared since 2018 amid a broad crackdown on teachers without proper work visas and Beijing’s push for a more patriotic education system.Analysts told VOA this is partly due to the deterioration of U.S.-China relations and China’s relations with other English-speaking countries. Yet parents say they are still interested in having their children learn English.Draft regulationThe FILE – A Chinese teacher writes English words on a blackboard at a class in Shanghai, April 26, 2002.What about learning English?English teaching has a huge market in China. The China Science News reported that more than 300 million people in China are learning English. English classes, mandated by the Ministry of Education, cost nearly 164 billion RMB (about $24 billion) annually.Yet as China’s relationship with the U.S. and other major English-speaking countries worsens, some worry the situation will mirror what happened in the 1960s, when passion to learn Russian sharply decreased after ties between Beijing and Moscow deteriorated.Commentator Qin Weiping said there’s a possibility that English might be less important if China keeps its aggressive foreign policy and is further isolated by the U.S. and other major economies down the road.Professor Zhan Jiang disagreed, saying that the current situation was temporary.“Some kids can’t go abroad, and some international students can’t come back. There are lot of reasons — COVID-19, Sino-U.S. relations. But I think most Chinese students will still learn English as their second language. That trend won’t change,” he told VOA.Li Ping, parent of a Beijing student, told VOA that he still wanted his child to learn English well, so he has the opportunity to go to the U.S. for further education. He added that he thought China’s current foreign policy and international environment would change one day. “We must invest in education,” he said.
…
US Imposes Sanctions on Chinese Company Over Abuse of Uighurs
The United States intensified its economic pressure on China’s Xinjiang province on Friday, imposing sanctions on a powerful Chinese company and two officials for what it said were human rights abuses against Uighurs and other ethnic minorities.The move, the latest blow to U.S.-China relations, came a week after U.S. President Donald Trump closed the Chinese consulate in Houston, prompting Beijing to shutter the U.S. consulate in Chengdu.The U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement it blacklisted the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, also known as XPCC, along with Sun Jinlong, former party secretary of XPCC, and Peng Jiarui, XPCC’s deputy party secretary and commander, over accusations they are connected to serious human rights abuse against ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.”The Chinese Communist Party’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, China against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities rank as the stain of the century,” U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement.China denies mistreatment of the minority group and says the camps holding many Uighurs provide vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.Washington’s action freezes any U.S. assets of the company and officials; generally prohibits Americans from dealing with them; and bars Sun Jinlong and Peng Jiarui from traveling to the United States.A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the company as a “a secretive, paramilitary organization that performs a variety of functions under the direct control” of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”They are directly involved in the implementation of the CCP’s comprehensive surveillance, detention and indoctrination … which we all know targets the Uighurs and members of other ethnic minority members in Xinjiang,” the official said.The Treasury also issued a license, authorizing certain wind-down and divestment transactions and activities related to blocked XPCC subsidiaries until Sept. 30.Washington recently imposed sanctions on the autonomous region of Xinjiang’s Communist Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, the highest-ranking Chinese official to be targeted, blacklisting the member of China’s powerful Politburo and current first party secretary of the XPCC, as well as other officials and the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau.Peter Harrell, a former official and sanctions expert at the Center for a New American Security, said that from an economic perspective, Friday’s action was a “substantial escalation” of U.S. pressure and sends a warning to companies engaged in activity in China.”The Trump administration finally took a meaningful sanctions … action on Xinjiang, as opposed to ones that were primarily symbolic,” Harrell said.XPCC is a quasi-military group created in 1954. It was initially made up of demobilized soldiers who spent time in military training while developing farms on the region’s arid Land.Civilian members from eastern China later joined the corps, which now numbers 3.11 million people, or more than 12% of the region’s population. It is almost entirely made up of Han Chinese in a region that is home to the Muslim Uighur people.
…
Hong Kong Postpones Elections By a Year, Citing Coronavirus
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam announced Friday that the government will postpone highly anticipated legislative elections by one year, citing a worsening coronavirus outbreak in the semi-autonomous Chinese city.
The Hong Kong government is invoking an emergency ordinance in delaying the elections. Lam said the government has the support of the Chinese government in making the decision.
“The announcement I have to make today is the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in the past seven months,” Lam said at a news conference.
“We want to ensure fairness and public safety and health, and need to make sure the election is held in an open, fair and impartial manner. This decision is therefore essential,” she said.
The postponement is a setback for the pro-democracy opposition, which was hoping to capitalize on disenchantment with the current pro-Beijing majority to make gains. A group of 22 lawmakers issued a statement ahead of the announcement accusing the government of using the outbreak as an excuse to delay the vote.
“Incumbent pro-democracy legislators, who represent 60% of the public’s opinion, collectively oppose the postponement and emphasize the responsibility of the SAR government to make every effort to arrange adequate anti-epidemic measures to hold elections in September as scheduled,” the statement said, referring to the territory’s official name, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
“Otherwise, it is tantamount to uprooting the foundation of the establishment of the SAR.”
The city of 7.5 million people has had a surge in coronavirus infections since the beginning of July. Hong Kong has recorded 3,273 infections as of Friday, more than double the tally on July 1.
The government has tightened social distancing restrictions, limiting public gatherings to two people, and banned dining-in at restaurants after 6 p.m.
The lead-up to the elections has been closely watched, after a national security law that took effect in late June stipulated that candidates who violated the law would be barred from running.
The new law is seen as Beijing’s attempt to curb dissent in the city, after months of pro-democracy and anti-government protests in Hong Kong last year.
On Thursday, 12 pro-democracy candidates including prominent pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong were disqualified from running for not complying with the city’s mini-constitution or pledging allegiance to the local and national governments.
“Beyond any doubt, this is the most scandalous election ever in Hong Kong history,” Wong said at a news conference Friday. “I wish to emphasize that no reasonable man would think that this election ban is not politically driven.”
“Beijing has staged multiple acts to prevent the opposition bloc from taking the majority in the Hong Kong legislature,” he said.
…
Asia COVID Resurgence Shatters Travel Bubble Hopes
The coronavirus is reemerging in Asian countries previously praised as models of containment, underscoring the resilience of the virus and dealing a blow to the idea of so-called travel bubbles between countries seen as safe zones. Vietnam, Hong Kong, Australia, and Japan have all seen the virus spread faster than ever this month, raising the prospect of a return to extended lockdowns. Mainland China, where the virus originated, has also seen a spike in cases. Some of those countries had been part of discussions about travel bubbles, which were proposed early in the pandemic as a way to reinvigorate economies by reopening quarantine-free tourist and international business travel. But with the new wave of infections, even many proponents of travel bubbles are acknowledging the idea is unrealistic for now. “It’s just a real mess,” says Ken Atkinson, vice chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Advisory Board, which has lobbied the Vietnamese government to consider the travel bubbles. “I think we’re looking at some time into next year before we can really see non-quarantine travel from anywhere.”A health worker disinfects arriving Vietnamese COVID-19 patients at the national hospital of tropical diseases in Hanoi, Vietnam on July 29, 2020.Vietnam resurgence To understand the difficulty of eradicating the coronavirus, look no further than Vietnam. Until this week, the country of 95 million people had reported only around 450 cases and zero deaths, thanks to its rapid quarantine measures and rigorous contact tracing. Vietnam had gone nearly 100 days without seeing a local infection – a stunning accomplishment for a country that shares a long border with China. But even that sustained success wasn’t enough to prevent a COVID-19 resurgence. Over the past week, Vietnam has reported 93 new cases as part of a wave of infections traced to the central city of Danang. Authorities have since evacuated 80,000 people, mostly local tourists, and suspended flights to and from the popular resort city, parts of which now resemble a ghost town.In Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital, bars and nightclubs have been closed and large gatherings banned. Many of the country’s beaches that had been filled with local tourists now sit empty.“We have several drivers and tour guides and they are at home without work,” says Marcel Renes, who owns the Ninh Binh Tourist Center that offers tours and private drivers in the Hong River Delta in northern Vietnam. With Vietnam’s borders sealed for months, many hotels, resorts, and other parts of the tourist industry had switched their focus to attracting locals rather than foreigners. But the latest outbreak has endangered even that.“I have no idea what we can do now,” Renes says. “The borders are still closed, and I think for the next six months they will remain closed.”The source of Vietnam’s outbreak isn’t clear. Since the new cases were discovered, Vietnam has cracked down on illegal immigration from China, although authorities have not linked any of the cases to unauthorized border crossings. Business travel blamed in Hong Kong Hong Kong is also experiencing a new wave of infections, after having not reported a locally transmitted case for three weeks. For the past nine days, Hong Kong has reported over 100 new cases per dayThe Chinese territory, whose economy relies on international business travel, has allowed certain categories of inboard travelers – including some executives, airline staff, and government officials – to be exempt from various quarantine rules. Over 290,000 people have been given such exemptions since February, according to official figures. Health authorities now acknowledge those exemptions may be at least partly to blame for the virus resurgence. People wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk by a decoration outside a shopping mall in Beijing, June 28, 2020.China, Japan, Australia Mainland China for a time was the epicenter of the global pandemic, but quickly contained the virus using some of the world’s most draconian measures, including walling off an entire province for months. But even those steps couldn’t stop the virus from returning. New daily coronavirus cases in China surpassed 100 for the first time since mid-April. Most of the new infections have been in the northwest region of Xinjiang, posing a new threat for the masses of Uighur Muslims that have been sent to internment camps. China closed its borders to almost all foreigners in late March and had only slowly begun relaxing some of those restrictions on a country-by-country basis.Japan has also reported record high numbers of cases this week, surpassing 1,000 new daily infections for the first time. Officials have warned another state of emergency could be declared in major urban centers such as Tokyo. In Australia, a surge of infections has been centered in Victoria, the country’s second most populated state. Australia saw its deadliest day Thursday, reporting at least 13 deaths and more than 700 new infections. The Australian infections have further delayed a quarantine-free travel arrangement with New Zealand – a deal that many once hoped would become one of the world’s first travel bubbles.New Zealand is now one very few countries to have seemingly eradicated the coronavirus – and kept it that way. Other regional successes include South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. But it’s a short list that seems to be getting shorter every week.Years not months As long as many parts of the world continue to see locally spreading infections, widespread international travel will be “pretty much impossible until a vaccine is found,” says Archie Clements, an epidemiologist at Curtin University in Perth, Australia.“We will be dealing with this for quite some time,” predicts Clements. “I think we’re talking multiple years rather than months before we can resume international travel in a fairly contained way.”But in the meantime, international travel will continue in many countries, even if it is more expensive. Travelers now must now consider the cost of pricier airline tickets, mandatory coronavirus tests, and potentially an enforced weeks-long quarantine stay. “You’ve got to pay the cost of a two-week quarantine in a hotel…who can afford to do that?” says Sharon Friel, who focuses on health equity and governance at the Australian National University.That dynamic, Friel says, could result in a throwback to the class divide of the 1950s, when only wealthier individuals could afford to travel overseas.“It will be people with money,” she says, “that will be doing any sorts of international travel.”
…
Why an Uninvited Chinese Ship Just Visited a Shoal on Malaysia’s Continental Shelf
The passage of a Chinese civilian ship across part of Malaysia’s continental shelf this month shows China aims to bolster its claim over a widely contested sea in the face of U.S. opposition, observers of the dispute say.The Sansha II, a 400-seat transport vessel, parked briefly at James Shoal around July 16 and then returned to a base closer to the Chinese mainland, according to ship activity maps, a U.S. think tank and a U.S. Naval War College researcher. The submerged feature sits at the southern boundary of Beijing’s claim to the South China Sea and within Malaysia’s 370-kilometer maritime exclusive economic zone.China vies for sovereignty over the sea with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam, all of which have weaker militaries and less infrastructure on the sea’s tiny islets. Claimants prize the 3.5 million-square-kilometer South China Sea for fish, energy reserves and shipping lanes.Southeast Asian countries that dispute China’s claims worry that the transport could someday ferry supplies to fortify Chinese-controlled artificial islands in the sea’s Spratly archipelago near James Shoal, said Shahriman Lockman, senior foreign policy and security studies analyst with the Institute of Strategic and International Studies research organization in Kuala Lumpur.In this photo provided by U.S. Navy, the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76, front) and USS Nimitz (CVN 68, rear) Carrier Strike Groups sail together in formation, in the South China Sea, July 6, 2020.“I think Southeast Asian claimants will be concerned about the possible dual use nature of the Sansha II,” Lockman said. “Its recent voyage could be interpreted as a familiarization trip. Although the ship is designed for passengers and cargo, it could also be used to resupply China’s artificial islands in the Spratlys.”The 128-meter-long transport would have visited the shoal days after U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the submerged feature doesn’t belong to Beijing. The U.S. government has no claim to the sea but seeks to control rival superpower China’s maritime expansion.“James Shoal is often cited in PRC propaganda as the ‘southernmost territory of China,’” Pompeo said July 13. “International law is clear. An underwater feature like James Shoal cannot be claimed by any state and is incapable of generating maritime zones.”China cites historical usage records to defend its maritime claims and rejected Pompeo’s words.“It’s pretty unusual for [the Sansha II] to go 1,000 miles from shore to James Shoal,” said Gregory Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.“It was clearly meant to send a message immediately after the statement, because the U.S. statement specifically called out James Shoal,” Poling said.Chinese naval ships visit the shoal about once a year to assert sovereignty over the same sea tract, Poling said. Malaysian gas and oil projects operate in the nearby Spratly Islands.Chinese officials hope the transport’s voyage will demonstrate to other countries civilian authority over the outer limits of their nine-dash line, said Jay Batongbacal, international maritime affairs professor at University of the Philippines. The line is composed of nine dashes that roughly delineate China’s claim to about 90 percent of the sea.“What they’re doing is just part of an overall effort to try to make it appear that the entire South China Sea is under their civilian control and civilian administrations,” Batongbacal said.The Sansha II was christened about a year ago to “take on multiple roles,” China’s official Xinhua News Agency says. Roles include transport and supply services, emergency rescue, medical assistance and scientific surveys on small islands, it says.James Shoal, being 20 meters underwater, cannot be used by any single country to claim a separate, surrounding maritime economic zone under international law, analysts believe.For China, “it’s an excessive claim that has no basis,” said Carl Thayer, Southeast Asia-specialized emeritus professor at the University of New South Wales in Australia.
…
EU Sanctions Russian Intelligence, N.Korean, Chinese Firms over Alleged Cyberattacks
The European Union on Thursday imposed travel and financial sanctions on a department of Russia’s military intelligence service and on firms from North Korea and China over their suspected participation in major cyberattacks across the world.In its first-ever sanctions related to cybercrime, the EU targeted the department for special technologies of the Russian military intelligence service, known as Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, it said in a statement.The bloc accused the Russian service of having carried out two cyberattacks in June 2017, which hit several companies in Europe resulting in large financial losses. The service is also accused of two cyberattacks against Ukraine’s power grid in 2015 and 2016.Four individuals working for the Russian military intelligence service were also sanctioned for allegedly participating in an attempted cyberattack against the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in the Netherlands in April 2018.North Korean company Chosun Expo was also sanctioned on suspicion of having supported the Lazarus Group, which is deemed responsible for a series of major attacks worldwide, including an $81 million heist against Bangladesh Bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 2016, the world’s biggest cyber fraud.The company is also allegedly linked to an attack against Hollywood film studio Sony Pictures to prevent the release of a satirical movie about North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2014.The U.S. Treasury last year imposed sanctions on the Lazarus Group and two other North Korean hacking groups for their alleged participation in the attacks on Sony Pictures and the central bank of Bangladesh, among others. It said North Korea’s main intelligence service was behind the hacking groups.North Korea has denied any involvement in cyberattacks. The EU sanctions also hit Chinese firm Haitai Technology Development, which is accused of having supported cyberattacks — known as Operation Cloud Hopper — aimed at stealing commercially sensitive data from multinationals across the world. Two Chinese individuals allegedly involved in the attacks were also sanctioned.Sanctions include travel bans and asset freezes. EU individuals, companies and other entities are forbidden from making funds available to those blacklisted.China’s diplomatic mission to the European Union said in a statement early on Friday that China “is a staunch defender of network security and one of the biggest victims of hacker attacks.”China wants global cyberspace security to be maintained through “dialogue and cooperation” and not by unilateral sanctions, the statement added.
…
Fired Chinese Law Professor Hires Legal Team to Fight Charge of Soliciting Prostitution
An outspoken former Chinese law professor has hired a legal team to defend him against charges of soliciting prostitution, saying he hopes to disprove the allegations that have damaged his client’s reputation, his lawyer told VOA.Tsinghua University law professor Xu Zhangrun was recently fired for “moral corruption” and publishing articles that undermine the Communist Party of China, according to the dismissal notice from his employer. Before that, he was detained for a week in early July on charges of soliciting prostitutes in the southwestern city of Chengdu last year.The outspoken liberal scholar, who just finished a 14-day quarantine at home, met with lawyers Mo Shaoping and Shang Baojun, as well as disbarred rights lawyer Pu Zhuqiang on Tuesday, and officially hired Mo and Shang to represent him in a case against the Chengdu police.According to Mo, Xu dismissed all accusations by the Chengdu police, adding that they did not provide evidence that he had solicited prostitutes, such as video footage, audio recordings or bank records.Mo said they planned to file an “administrative reconsideration” application to overturn the administrative ruling by the Chengdu police for soliciting prostitution.He noted there was a big hurdle in fighting the charges.“The Beijing police did not give him the administrative penalty statement issued by the Chengdu police over this alleged crime, and it would be difficult to submit the review application without it,” Mo told VOA.Shang, the other lawyer, said that at the end of Xu’s detention, the Beijing police would not let him go unless they could keep the document. At present, the only official document that Xu has is the dismissal letter issued by Tsinghua University.Chengdu police did not respond to VOA’s request for comments.Government oppression Chinese authorities have repeatedly targeted Xu for his essays critical of President Xi Jinping and the ruling Communist Party. Chinese activists and intellectuals sounded alarm at Xu’s detention and dismissal.Sociologist Guo Yuhua appears to be the only current Tsinghua professor still willing to speak out publicly for Xu. She told VOA that the fact Xu did not fight his dismissal does not mean he agrees with the university’s decision.“A call to a woman equals soliciting prostitutes? Where’s the evidence? As for the new guidelines by China’s Ministry of Education, does that go with our constitution?” she asked. “Tsinghua made the decision to expel him while he was still in detention. Why in such a rush?”Guo was referring to a regulation quoted in Xu’s dismissal notification, which read, “We have verified that Xu Zhangrun has published many essays since July 2018, and it is a serious violation of the ‘10 standards of professional conduct for teachers in tertiary institutes in the new era.’ ”China’s Ministry of Education issued a set of new guidelines in 2018, prohibiting teachers from engaging in any activity that undermines the authority of the Communist Party or violates the directions and policies of the party.“Teachers have to be patriotic and uphold academic integrity,” the guidelines said.Guo said Tsinghua’s decision to dismiss Xu has deviated from Tsinghua’s motto of “independent thoughts and free spirit,” damaging its reputation.Growing support Very few current faculty members and students at Tsinghua have publicly discussed Xu’s case.“It’s not surprising that people are self-censoring themselves in today’s tightly controlled environment,” Guo said.Yet nearly 600 Tsinghua alumni came to support the former law professor, raising more than $15,000 in donations for him.In an open letter to his former colleagues and students, Xu expressed appreciation for their backing and said totalitarianism is doomed to failure, and freedom will eventually come to China.He also declined the donation, saying that the money should be sent instead to those in greater need.VOA has tried to contact Xu without success. His WeChat account showed that the option to add him as a friend was not available. People familiar with the matter said his WeChat has been blocked.
…
Taiwan’s New Envoy to Washington Has Deep Ties to America
Bi-khim Hsiao, a confidante of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, has arrived in Washington to lead Taiwan’s diplomatic mission. Hsiao told reporters this week that her schedule has been full of teleconferences and some in-person visits since she arrived in Washington a week ago.On Tuesday, she presided over a ceremony that saw Taiwan donate a quarter-million face masks to the American Legion, the largest organization of wartime veterans in the United States. The day before, she met with the top official at the FILE – In this March 28, 2017, file photo, Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., leaves a closed-door strategy session at the Capitol in Washington.Among its strongest supporters is Representative Ted Yoho of Florida, the most senior Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Asia Pacific subcommittee. Last month, he and the subcommittee chair, Representative Ami Bera, a Democrat from California, joined two senators in introducing a bicameral bill aimed at strengthening Americans’ knowledge of Taiwan.The bill, known as the Taiwan Fellowship Act, provides for 10 U.S. government officials to be chosen each year to spend two years studying and working in Taiwan.Yoho said the bill would not only strengthen the U.S.-Taiwan relationship but also enhance the U.S. presence in the Indo-Pacific region. Senator Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said the bill “pushes back on China’s work to isolate the island nation diplomatically.”On Wednesday, Yoho, introduced another bill, the Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act, to “clarify and strengthen the commitment of the United States to defend Taiwan in the event of an armed attack” from across the Taiwan Strait.However, with congressional elections looming, both bills face uncertain prospects of becoming law.Hsiao, the first woman to serve as Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the United States, has identified her ultimate goal as “helping to ensure that Taiwanese people stand tall and feel respected among the world community.”She said in the CNA interview that she was bringing her four cats with her to Washington, noting that cats are known for their ability to find their way out in tight and narrow spaces.In an age marked by China’s wolf warrior diplomacy, Hsiao said she didn’t mind being known as a cat warrior.VOA’s Mandarin service contributed to this report.
…
Global Markets Mostly Lower Thursday
Global markets are mostly lower Thursday as a stalemate in Washington over extending enhanced unemployment benefits for millions of Americans, plus an expected record-plunge in U.S. gross domestic product during the April-June period cast pessimism over trading activity. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei index dropped 0.2%. The Hang Seng in Hong Kong closed 0.6% lower, and Shanghai’s Composite index lost 0.2%. Elsewhere in the region, the S&P/ASX index in Australia gained 0.8%. South Korea’s KOSPI index gained 0.1%, while the TSEC index in Taiwan surged 1.4% and the Sensex in Mumbai closed 0.8% lower. European markets are in freefall, with London’s FTSE index down 1.7% in midday trading, the CAC-40 in Paris is 1.3% lower, and the DAX index has plunged 2.7% on news that Germany’s GDP declined 10.1% in the second quarter, its biggest loss in 50 years. Oil markets are also slumping Thursday, with U.S. crude trading at $40.54 per barrel, down 1.7%, and Brent crude oil trading at $43.05 per barrel, down 1.6%. And all three major U.S. indices are trending negative ahead of Wall Street’s opening bell.
…
Vietnam to Shut Bars, Nightclubs Amid COVID Outbreak
Vietnam’s business hub, Ho Chi Minh City, has ordered bars and nightclubs to shut and banned gatherings of more than 30 people starting midnight on Thursday, to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus after it resurfaced in the country last week.
Ho Chi Minh City has registered two cases of COVID-19 linked to the Danang outbreak, both of which had reported themselves separately to health authorities before undertaking tests, the city’s administration said in a statement.
About 18,000 tourists who had been in Danang have returned to Ho Chi Minh City recently, it added. The restrictions follow similar curbs imposed by the capital Hanoi on Wednesday.
…
Death Toll from Australia Coronavirus Surge Rises to 189
Australia’s southern state of Victoria posted 723 new COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths on Wednesday, a new one-day record for the hardest-hit state from the sudden spike of the disease.The new numbers exceed the 532 new coronavirus cases posted on Monday for Australia’s second most populous state. Victoria has now posted over 9,900 total number of COVID-19 infections and 105 deaths, making up the majority of Australia’s 16,298 total confirmed cases and 189 deaths.Melbourne, Victoria state’s capital city, is the epicenter of the state’s current COVID-19 surge. State Premier David Andrews has blamed the uptick on residents continuing to go to work or generally in public despite developing symptoms, as well as a breakout in assisted living facilities for the elderly. Andrews has ordered all residents in Victoria to wear a face mask outside beginning Sunday, extending a mandate already in place for Melbourne and the rural area of Mitchell Shire.Andrews has also issued an order banning residents in communities outside of Melbourne from bringing guests into their homes effective Thursday.Melbourne is at the halfway point of a six-week lockdown, which has restricted residents from leaving home unless going to work, school, medical appointments or shopping for food.Meanwhile, authorities in the northeastern state of Queensland have announced that it will ban residents from Greater Sydney effective Saturday to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The ban was imposed after two women tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to the state capital of Brisbane from a trip to Melbourne via Sydney tested positive and without going into self-isolation.
…
Hong Kong Police Arrest 4 for Alleged National Security Breach Under New Law
Four young activists who belonged to a disbanded pro-independence group have been arrested on secessionist charges in Hong Kong’s first crackdown on political figures after the enactment July 1 of a sweeping national security law.Senior Superintendent Li Kwai-wah, with Hong Kong police’s newly formed National Security Department, told reporters late Wednesday that four students between the ages of 16 and 21 had been arrested under the new national security law for “organizing and inciting secession” by their advocacy of independence.He declined to name them and their group, but the group Studentlocalism announced on social media that its former convenor, Tony Chung, 19, had been arrested Wednesday night for “inciting secession.” Activists said at least two other former group members also had been arrested about the same time.The arrests were the most high-profile crackdown on political figures since the introduction of the new security law. Ten protesters were arrested that day on national security charges.’Hong Kong nation’Li accused the group of announcing online the establishment of a new group to advocate for the establishment of a “Hong Kong nation,” as well as its declaration that it would use all means to achieve this end. He also alleged that the group was trying to “unite all pro-independence groups in Hong Kong” and “incite others to join them.”Li said mobile phones, computers and documents had been seized from the arrested activists’ homes. He said the police could take DNA samples from them if necessary.Citing clauses 36 to 38 of the national security law, Li emphasized that people also could be charged with criminal enterprises for “national security crimes” committed elsewhere in the world.“We have jurisdiction even if the propaganda takes place abroad,” he said.Studentlocalism announced its closure on the eve of the enactment of the national security law on July 1, but it also announced 10 days ago the establishment of its U.S. division. On its Twitter account, the group called on its supporters to join in, and it posted an online recruitment form.ManifestoIts manifesto on Twitter says one of its missions is to “establish a Hong Kong republic with independent sovereignty” and “awaken the will of Hong Kong’s national independence.”Li said the arrestees were suspected of violating both Article 20 and 21 of the national security law, which criminalizes secessionist acts and incitement of others to commit such offenses.In a video footage posted online, a plainclothes police officer, purportedly from the national security department, can be seen escorting Chung, who has his hands tied behind his back, to a vehicle.Local media said it was the first time that officers from the police force’s new national security department had made an arrest under the security legislation.FILE – Independence activist Tony Chung is pictured on a street in Hong Kong, China, Jan. 8, 2019.As the group disbanded June 30, Chung vowed on Twitter, “We won’t give up, we refuse to forget, one day we will witness the Hong Kong national flag on our land.”Chung was arrested in May 2019 for damaging the national flag at the protest zone outside the legislature, before the anti-government protest movement began.Ahead of the police briefing Wednesday night, officers expelled several journalists, saying they had not been registered with the government — even though no such restrictions had been put in place previously.Commenting on the arrests, pro-democracy lawmaker Eddie Chu said the activists were not arrested for their actions but rather for their rhetoric on social media. “The maximum penalty is life imprisonment. Typical CCP [Chinese Communist Party] speech crime,” he said on Twitter.Human Rights Watch researcher Maya Wang said the arrests were “a significant escalation on the part of the Hong Kong government, criminalizing those who organize political parties, and it’s likely [to be] just the beginning before it moves onto pan-democratic parties.”
…
Mystery Seeds Arriving in US From China Could Be Part of Scam, Officials Say
U.S. officials say that Americans who are reporting receiving unsolicited packages containing seeds purportedly sent from China could be the victims of a fraudulent internet retail scheme known as a “brushing scam.” Residents of about a dozen U.S. states have reported receiving mysterious packages containing dozens of seeds that appeared to have been mailed from China. The seeds are of unknown origin, and state agencies are warning recipients not to plant them if they are invasive species. “At this time, we don’t have any evidence indicating this is something other than a ‘brushing scam’ where people receive unsolicited items from a seller who then posts false customer reviews to boost sales,” the U.S. Department of Agriculture wrote on its website, adding that the agency is investigating the packages from China. Mystery seeds In recent days, residents all over the country have been reporting on social media that they received mystery packages containing seeds that they did not order. With either white or yellow packaging, the packages appear to have been shipped via China’s state-run postal agency and contain Chinese characters on the outside. At least 30 states are urging its residents to report these unsolicited packages of seeds, warning they could be harmful. “Anyone receiving seeds that they did not order should not open the packets or plant the seeds,” Michael Wallace, director of communications at Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, told VOA. “Residents should be cautious because planting seeds that are non-native to the United States could potentially be an invasive species that would be a detriment to the environment,” warned Louisiana Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry Mike Strain.He told VOA the state is also concerned about the introduction of seed-borne pathogens into the environment. USDA Urges Residents to Avoid Planting ‘China Seeds’ Seeds of unknown origin pose serious threats to agriculture and the environment, officials sayDavid Miller, a soybean farmer from Iowa, said farmers like him are taking this seriously. “Well, if you ordered them, it’s one thing. If they came unsolicited, I think it’s concerning. You don’t know what these seeds are, and from whom, you don’t know if they contain or carry seed diseases, insect and all sorts of things can come in,” Miller told VOA. Brushing scam? Although investigators are still looking into the suspicious mailings, the USDA and Better Business Bureau said it appears to bear the hallmarks of an international “brushing scam.” According to the BBB, a brushing scam starts with a company sending a consumer an unsolicited order or merchandise. The company then uses the consumer’s information and address to write a fake review for the company to boost its online reputation. “A fake, positive review improves their products’ ratings, which means more sales for them. The payoff is highly profitable from their perspective,” the BBB wrote in a newsletter. Most of the sellers involved are foreign third-party vendors on Amazon. According to Liz Johnson, an identity protection specialist and owner of Digital Bodyguard Co. LLC, brush scams are the new identity theft scam individuals should be on the lookout for. “Once a package has been received, the sender gets a notification. This lets the criminal know that not only do you have an Amazon account but that I can easily locate, find and take over your Amazon account by doing a simple search to get your email address,” Johnson said. She added that the worst part about brushing scams is that the individual receiving the merchandise has no idea or way to verify that they have not been tampered with. Even more so, individuals receiving these packages have no way to stop the services. BBB says the fact that a scammer was able to send items to a person indicates they have some of that person’s Amazon account information, such as a name, address, and possibly a phone number or password. According to the consumer protection agency, anyone who receives unsolicited packages should change their Amazon password and monitor their credit report and bank accounts. Amazon did not respond to VOA’s request for comment. In a previous statement regarding brushing scams, the internet giant said they investigate every report of customers receiving unsolicited packages and ban all vendors and reviewers who abuse the reviews system.
…
US Treasury to Recommend Options to Trump About Tik Tok
The Chinese-owned app TikTok is under a security review by the U.S. government, which will make a recommendation on the matter to President Donald Trump next week, according to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.Trump said Wednesday, “we are thinking about making a decision” about TikTok.The video-sharing social media app, is extremely popular in both the US. and around the world. It has already been downloaded 2 billion times worldwide and 165 million of those downloads were in the U.S.The app features not only entertainment videos, but also debates and takes positions on political issues, such as racial justice and the upcoming U.S. presidential election.TikTok to Exit Hong Kong Market Over New National Security Law Decision by Chinese-based app follows decisions by Facebook, Google and Twitter to briefly suspend review of Beijing requests for user data in semi-autonomous city U.S. officials are concerned that TikTok may pose a security threat, fearing that the company might share its user data with China’s government. However, TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has said it does not share user data with the Chinese government and maintains that it only stores U.S. user data in the U.S. and Singapore. TikTok also recently chose former Disney executive Kevin Mayer as its chief executive in a move seen as an effort to distance itself from Beijing.Mnuchin said that the U.S. government’s Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS), an interagency group led by the Treasury Department, will be looking into TikTok. CFIUS’ job is to oversee foreign investments and assess them for potential national security risks.CFIUS has the ability to force companies to cancel deals or put in place other measures it deems necessary for national security.
…
Japan Reaches 1,000 Daily COVID-19 Cases for 1st Time
Japan confirmed Wednesday a new daily record for COVID-19 infections, topping more than 1,000 cases for the first time since the pandemic began. Japanese broadcaster NHK reports the daily total surpasses 1,200 cases, but the exact number of new cases could not be verified. The record single-day number of cases was based on information given by local authorities and came as after districts with huge urban populations other than Tokyo, including Aichi and Osaka, reported their highest numbers of infections.Officials in the western prefecture of Osaka reported 221, the first time the daily infection figure has surpassed 200.Osaka Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi said, “Considering the positive rate in virus tests is as high as 10 percent, I think the number of infections will increase further.”The central prefecture of Aichi reported 167 infections. Okinawa, in the south, registered a record figure for the third day in a row. The number is relatively low at 44 — but it’s more than double Tuesday’s daily tally. Figures do not include cases linked to U.S. military bases in the prefecture.Out of Japan’s 47 prefectures, Iwate was the only one that had no confirmed infections. But that changed on Wednesday when it reported two cases.At a Tokyo news conference earlier in the day, Japan Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said some prefectures are facing a shortage of accommodations, such as hotels, to house and treat patients with mild symptoms of COVID-19. He said the government was prepared to help districts that need it.Suga also blamed the recent surges on “clusters” of infections — groups of people all getting infected in one location or situation because they were not maintaining social distancing. He said as of Tuesday, 550 such clusters had been identified nationwide.
…
Malaysia’s Hungry Banking on Charity to Get Through Lockdown
On the 15th floor of a shabby, low-rent apartment block in north Kuala Lumpur, Justin Cheah stepped out of a rickety elevator with a bulging bag of groceries and headed for the unit flanked by a dusty shrine to the elephant-headed god Ganesh, the “remover of obstacles.” Cheah is lending the deity a hand. The groceries, and a 10-kilogram bag of rice, are for one of the hundreds of new families the charity he runs, Kechara, has been helping to feed since the coronavirus pandemic sent Malaysia into a stifling lockdown in mid-March that has yet to be lifted in full. Kechara staff help a woman with a bag of produce at one of the charity’s mobile food banks in Kuala Lumpur. (Zsombor Peter/VOA)Kechara and other food banks operating across Malaysia’s capital and the rest of the country of 32 million say they have been coping with a surge in demand since the start of the lockdown, or “Movement Control Order” (MCO). More than ever they are extending a critical lifeline to millions of families left wanting by a chronically underfunded and overstretched social safety net. “If we did not get this food, I would not have enough to survive and I would not have enough money left to pay for my children’s education,” said Vany Ramasamy, who greeted Cheah in the red shirt and navy-blue trousers of the municipal workers who sweep the city’s streets from dawn to dusk. FILE – A soldier and a policeman wearing face masks stand guard near barbed wire in a locked down area due to the new coronavirus in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 15, 2020.The lockdown has thrown more than 300,000 Malaysians out of work as of May and pushed the country’s unemployment rate up to 5.3 percent, a height it has not hit since the late 1980s, according to the government’s latest figures. The World Bank says those numbers will climb higher before the worst is over. An untold number more, like Ramasamy, are among the newly underemployed — those who still have jobs but can no longer work as much as before. She and her husband, also a municipal worker, have had their hours cut in half, slashing their combined monthly income to just $250 for a family of nine, including six children and a grandmother. “I’m very worried because it costs a lot to support everyone in the household,” she said with a faint but resolute smile. “Every cent counts.” Kechara staff prepare bags of groceries to be delivered to needy families in Kuala Lumpur. (Zsombor Peter/VOA)Each of Kechara’s families gets a 35-kilogram bag of dry goods to help see them through the month. Every afternoon it also sets up a cornucopia of surplus produce outside a few of the apartment blocks in the area, circling back to each in rotation. The tenants on the charity’s list line up and stuff a shopping bag each with eggplant, carrots, apples and other fresh fruits and vegetables in turn. Under the lockdown, the list has grown longer. Between the home deliveries and produce lines, Kechara is now serving some 1,500 families regularly, three times as many as before the lockdown. “It’s like a sharp rise in a short space of time, so you are looking at a very steep canyon here, whereas previously we were increasing bit by bit,” said Cheah. Donations have also picked up, but not quite as fast as demand. Before the lockdown, the Lost Food Project, a food bank serving greater Kuala Lumpur and the city of Johor Bahru in the south, also got few new calls from partner charities asking for more help. “This changed during the MCO,” said general manager Muhammad Syazwan Mokhtar. All of a sudden, “we’ve had distress calls from all over the place.” The Malaysia Food Bank Foundation, which helps support the Lost Food Project, Kechara and others, was serving over half-a-million families before the lockdown across the country, including the provinces of Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo. Since March, CEO Abdul Wahab Long said, the number has “more than doubled.” The largest spikes have been in the major cities, driven by migrant laborers from the provinces stuck in place by the MCO with little or no work. While easing lockdown rules have seen many return home or start working again, the ranks turning to Malaysia’s food banks are still swollen. The government has done much to help. The World Bank says the various aid packages given out during the pandemic have added up to nearly 20% of the country’s gross domestic product, more than in most developing countries. But a dearth of public spending on social protection programs leading up to the pandemic had left Malaysia ill prepared for the shock. Richard Record, an economist with the bank’s country team, said the government regularly spent roughly only 1% of GDP on such programs, “which is pretty low even for a middle-income economy, let alone for one that aspires to become a high-income and developed economy.” The country’s safety net may cover a wide swath of the population, he said, “but it’s very thin.” That safety net has forced Danny Khaw, another of Kechara’s new charges, to keep working at the age of 78. “Now everywhere pain,” he said, giving his old joints a weary shake. .From his crumbling row house overlooking the highway, Khaw runs a one-man delivery service for hire. But with the economy in a deep slump, his rusty lorry has put in few miles during the lockdown. The bags of free groceries “helps me a lot,” he said, but go only so far. “Sometimes I eat eggs only. Sometimes I don’t eat.”
…
Hajj Begins in Saudi Arabia Under Historic COVID Imposed Restrictions
Islam’s holiest observances began Wednesday as a small group of pilgrims arrived in Mecca to begin the Hajj, which has been dramatically scaled-back due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of the two million-plus people from around the globe that normally make the required once-in-a-lifetime journey to Islam’s holiest site, Saudi Arabia has barred all international travelers from entering the kingdom to perform the Hajj, limiting the attendees to just 1,000 people made up of Saudi nationals and foreign residents who were pre-selected weeks ago. The pilgrims are between the ages of 20 and 50 and have been tested for COVID-19 before traveling to Mecca, where they were required to quarantine in their hotel rooms before the start of the Hajj. They will also be required to enter quarantine for a week after the end of their five-day pilgrimage. Muslim pilgrims maintain social distancing as they circle the Kaaba at the Grand mosque during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 29, 2020. (Saudi Ministry of Media/via Reuters).The small band of pilgrims will observe social distancing as they walk counterclockwise around the cube-shaped Kaaba placed in the center of the Grand Mosque during the first ritual of the Hajj — a far different scene than usual, with the mosque packed with pilgrims standing shoulder-to-shoulder as they circle the Kaaba. Saudi Arabia has more than 270,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and nearly 2,800 deaths. Australia imposes travel ban
In Australia, authorities in the northeastern state of Queensland have announced that it will ban residents from Greater Sydney effective Saturday to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The ban was imposed after two women tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to the state capital of Brisbane from a trip to Melbourne via Sydney and without going into self-isolation. FILE – A person in a protective face mask walks along the Princes Bridge amidst a lockdown in response to an outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Melbourne, Australia, July 17, 2020. (AAP Image/Daniel Pockett via Reuters)Melbourne, the state capital of the southern state of Victoria, is at the halfway mark of a six-week lockdown due to a dramatic spike in new COVID-19 cases, including another 295 new cases reported Wednesday. Victoria state has also reported 804 coronavirus cases connected to elderly citizens homes. Sydney, the capital of neighboring New South Wales, posted 19 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, most of them related to several clusters that have emerged at restaurants, funeral homes and parks. Vietnam rushes to quell new COVID outbreak
In Vietnam, officials are rushing to control a sudden new outbreak of COVID-19 after reporting one of the world’s most successful control efforts earlier in the year.People walk toward an ambulance to be driven to a hospital for quarantine relating to a suspected COVID-19 case in Hanoi, Vietnam, July 29, 2020.Authorities in the Southeast Asian country sealed off the central coast tourist city Danang Sunday after two people tested positive for the deadly atypical pneumonia, domestic media reports say. The new spike in and near Danang had grown to 30 cases as of early Wednesday, mostly traced to a local hospital. While Vietnam’s latest figures still hardly match the hundreds of daily cases still being reported in much of the world, the country prides itself on throttling the disease earlier in the year with no deaths to date. Vietnam had gone without transmission for 99 days through Saturday and its domestic economy roared back to life by May. Can’t smell, can’t taste? Scientists know why
A new report in the journal Science Advances has discovered why COVID-19 patients lose their sense of smell. Researchers at Harvard Medical School say the coronavirus infiltrates the cells that provide major structural support to sensory neurons — the neurons that detect odors and send those messages to the brain. Since the sense of smell is linked to the sense of taste, the coronavirus also affects the ability to taste food. The researchers said 90% of recovering COVID-19 patients who lost their sense of smell and taste regained it. In separate studies, scientists are still trying to conclude whether it is possible to get COVID-19 twice. They say the particular coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is new and much is still unknown.
…
US Cyberfirm Says Vatican Target of Chinese Hackers, NY Times Reports
The New York Times Wednesday said the Vatican’s computer networks have been breached by Chinese hackers since May, in an apparent espionage effort before the start of sensitive talks between the Roman Catholic Church and Communist China. The Times says the attack, discovered by private U.S.-based cybersecurity and monitoring firm Recorded Future, appears to be the first time hackers have been publicly caught directly hacking into the Vatican and a Hong Kong-based group of de facto Vatican representatives who have negotiated with China over the Church’s status on the mainland. The newspaper says cybersecurity experts at Recorded Future have presumed the hackers are working for the Chinese government. The Vatican and China are expected to begin talks in September over renewal of a provisional agreement they reached in 2018 that gives the pope the final say over bishops selected by the Communist Party for the state-sanctioned Catholic Church. The Times says the revelations are certain to anger the Vatican and further complicate its relationship with the Chinese government. The two sides cut off formal diplomatic ties in 1951. The Vatican officially recognizes Taiwan, the self-ruled island Beijing claims is a rogue breakaway territory that belongs under its control. If the Vatican and China restore diplomatic relations, Chinese officials are certain to demand that the Church cut off all ties with Taiwan. China officially recognizes Catholicism and four other religions, but Communist Party officials often suspect religious groups and worshipers pose a threat to national security and are working to undermine the party’s grip on power. Authorities have often used cyberattacks to gather information on groups such as Buddhist Tibetans, Muslim Uighurs and members of the outlawed Falun Gong who operate outside of China.
…
US, Australia Seek New Military Cooperation in Face of China
The United States and Australia said Tuesday they will expand military cooperation as tensions soar with China, presenting a common front between the allies. Going ahead in Washington with annual talks despite the coronavirus pandemic, Australia’s foreign and defense ministers offered clear, if more mildly stated, support for a hawkish shift on China by President Donald Trump’s administration. “The United States knows the threats that you and the rest of the free world face. And the United States stands with you in our unbreakable alliance,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the Australian ministers during a joint news conference. U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper hailed the participation of five Australian warships last week in exercises with a U.S. carrier strike group and a Japanese destroyer in the Philippine Sea. “These exercises not only bolster interoperability, but also send a clear signal to Beijing that we will fly, we will sail and we will operate wherever international law allows and defend the rights of our allies and partners to do the same,” Esper said. Australian Defense Minister Linda Reynolds said the two countries will build ties across a slew of defense areas including hypersonic, electronic and space-based warfare. The cooperation will “strengthen our shared ability to contribute to regional security and to deter malign behavior in our region,” she said. In a joint statement, the ministers said they discussed expanding operations in the northern Australian city of Darwin, where U.S. Marines have been rotating in since 2012 under an initiative of former president Barack Obama. The United States will establish a military fuel reserve in Darwin and the allies will consider exercises there with like-minded countries – a likely reference to Japan and India. In one step that had been too far, Australia last year said it would not serve as a base for U.S. intermediate-range missiles – widely seen as a way to target China. Esper, asked if Australia had warmed to the missiles, said the allies had a “full suite of capabilities and strategies we intend to roll out together in the years ahead.” Australian solidarity Pompeo has championed a hard line on China, questioning the half-century U.S. policy of engagement and urging an alliance to confront a “Frankenstein” Beijing. Despite Australia’s reliance on trade with China, Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s right-leaning government has largely backed the United States. FILE – In this photo provided by U.S. Navy, the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76, front) and USS Nimitz (CVN 68, rear) Carrier Strike Groups sail together in formation, in the South China Sea, July 6, 2020.Australia has seconded its longtime ally’s calls for an international investigation into the origins of COVID-19 and joined Pompeo in rejecting Beijing’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea. Pompeo hailed Morrison for refusing to “bow to Beijing’s wishes” after China retaliated by discouraging travel and trade with Australia and was accused of waging cyberattacks against government sites. Foreign Minister Marise Payne, however, acknowledged that the two nations “don’t agree on everything” and stressed the importance of multilateral institutions, after Trump bolted from the World Health Organization. As the ministers met, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi – in a phone call with his counterpart from another U.S. ally, France – accused Washington of “reckless provocation of confrontation.” Tied to U.S. election? China as well as Trump’s domestic critics accuse the U.S. president, who is trailing in polls ahead of November elections, of seizing on China to divert from criticism of his own handling of the pandemic in the United States, which has suffered the highest death toll of any country. But Trump’s presumptive Democratic rival Joe Biden has also vowed a tough approach on China amid wide criticism of the Asian power on issues from trade to its incarceration of Uighur Muslims to its clampdown in semi-autonomous Hong Kong. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore, a close U.S. ally that maintains cordial relations with China, said the U.S. relationship with Beijing historically “always gets entangled” in U.S. presidential elections but stabilizes afterward. “I’m not sure whether it will happen this time because I feel it’s quite different,” Lee told the Atlantic Council in Washington. “The degree of animus and, sad to say, bipartisan consensus on treating China as a threat is quite extraordinary, and I fear that it may carry over past the election and, if it does, I think that bodes ill for the world.”
…
USDA Urges Residents to Avoid Planting ‘China Seeds’
The U.S. Agriculture Department issued a warning Monday urging all citizens who received unsolicited packages of seeds to turn the specimens over to the government for testing.
The mysterious packages allegedly originated from China and have appeared in mailboxes nationwide, prompting inquiries at both the state and federal level.
Local news outlets in Kentucky, New York, Idaho and Georgia have reported on the mysterious seeds, though the exact number of packets delivered is unknown.
Relations between China and the U.S. have rapidly deteriorated over the spring and summer months. The two economic powers are currently engaged in inflammatory disputes over the coronavirus, militancy in the South China Sea, Hong Kong and TikTok.
The USDA has refrained from blaming the Chinese government for the seeds, instead classifying them as a “brushing scam,” in which people receive unsolicited items from a seller who then posts false customer reviews to boost sales.
At least two states have defined the phenomenon as “agricultural smuggling.”Seeds are displayed at a garden center, April 14, 2020, in Nitro, W. Va.U.S. officials fear the seeds could potentially destroy or severely harm agriculture and natural ecosystems, posing a threat to America’s food supply and environmental health.
Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, defended China’s postal service at a news briefing Tuesday, stating that they strictly adhere to agricultural regulations.
According to Weng, the postal service discovered falsified records pertaining to several of the packages in question and requested that the United States send the packages to China for investigation.
State officials said some packages were labeled as jewelry and may have contained Chinese writing.
…
Thailand Anti-Government Protests Mount as Youth Demand Change
As Thailand’s economy struggles to recover from the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, renewed anti-government demonstrations have sprung up across the country. Activists are demanding amendments to the constitution, the dissolution of parliament and a stop to the harassment of rights activists. The rallies were temporarily halted earlier this year when the COVID outbreak curbed large gatherings. Steve Sandford has more from Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Videographer: Steve Sandford
Video editor: Jason Godman
…
Head of China CDC Injected With Experimental Vaccine
The head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention says he has been injected with an experimental coronavirus vaccine in an attempt to persuade the public to follow suit when one is approved.
“I’m going to reveal something undercover: I am injected with one of the vaccines,” Gao Fu said in a webinar Sunday hosted by Alibaba Health, an arm of the Chinese e-commerce giant, and Cell Press, an American publisher of scientific journals. “I hope it will work.”
The Associated Press reported earlier this month that a state-owned Chinese company injected employees with experimental shots in March, even before the government-approved testing in people — a move that raised ethical concerns among some experts.
Gao did not say when or how he took the vaccine candidate, leaving it unclear whether he was injected as part of a government-approved human trial. He did not respond to requests for comment.
The claim underscores the enormous stakes as China competes with U.S. and British companies to be the first with a vaccine to help end the pandemic — a feat that would be both a scientific and political triumph.
China has positioned itself to be a strong contender. Eight of the nearly two dozen potential vaccines in various stages of human testing worldwide are from China, the most of any country.
Gao declined to say which of the vaccines he was injected with, saying he didn’t want to be seen as “doing some kind of propaganda” for a particular company.
Last month, Gao was a coauthor on a paper introducing one candidate, an “inactivated” vaccine made by growing the whole virus in a lab and then killing it. That candidate is being developed by an affiliate of state-owned SinoPharm.
The company previously said in an online post that 30 employees, including top executives, helped “pre-test” its vaccine in March, before it was approved for its initial human study.
Scientists vehemently debate such self-experimentation, because what happens to one or a few people outside a well-designed study is not usable evidence of safety or effectiveness.
Chinese state media have also reported that employees of state-owned companies going abroad are being offered injections of the vaccine.
Gao said he took the injection to instill public confidence in vaccines, especially amid a tide of rising mistrust that has fueled conspiracy theories and attacks on scientists.
“Everybody has suspicions about the new coronavirus vaccine,” Gao said. “As a scientist, you’ve got to be brave. … If even we didn’t do it, how can we persuade the whole world — all the people, the public — to be vaccinated?”
Andrew Rennekamp, an editor at Cell and one of the moderators of Gao’s webinar, said, “This is a brave thing to do, and it shows his faith in what he believes is the safety of the vaccine and his commitment to the science and to public health.”
Even as China is among the leaders in the global race for a vaccine, it is also striving to overcome years of drug scandals — the latest coming in 2018 when authorities recalled a rabies vaccine and later announced that batches of children’s DPT vaccines, for diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus, were ineffective.
Gao himself had also been under heavy scrutiny for the China CDC’s initial handling of the coronavirus outbreak, both at home and abroad. He largely vanished from public view for months, resurfacing again in an interview with state media in late April.
Recently, Gao has been involved in research on the coronavirus.
As vaccine research continues, China’s CDC is now looking into potential immunization programs, trying to figure out whether to prioritize children, the elderly or healthcare workers, he said.
Gao’s revelations come at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions fueled by the outbreak. Beijing’s delays in warning the public and releasing data at the beginning of the outbreak contributed significantly to the coronavirus’s spread, while President Donald Trump and other American politicians have made unsubstantiated claims that the virus escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan, the central Chinese city where it was first detected.
Tensions have flared to the point where it’s now disrupting research, leading to frustration among scientists who work with Chinese collaborators. The Trump administration has moved to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization, and has cut funding to research initiatives studying coronaviruses in China.
Gao said repeatedly in his lecture that he wanted more cooperation between the U.S. and China, pleading for unity even as relations between Beijing and Washington plummet to new lows.
“We don’t want to have China and the U.S. separated scientifically,” Gao said. “We’ve got to work together.”
…
South Korea Allowed to Develop Own Rocket Fuel
South Korea said Tuesday it has reached an agreement with the United States that will allow it to use solid rocket fuel for space vehicles, a change that will enable the country to launch its first military surveillance satellites and develop the technology to build more powerful missiles. The agreement lifts guidelines Seoul first signed onto with Washington in 1979. The U.S. had imposed restrictions out of concern solid fuel could lead to bigger rockets and a regional arms race. The guidelines were last revised in 2017 to scrap a payload cap of 500 kilograms for South Korea’s ballistic missiles with ranges of 800 kilometers.But at a Seoul news conference, South Korean Deputy National Security Adviser Kim Hyun-chong announced the U.S. and South Korea agreed to lift those restriction. Kim said, effective immediately, all South Korean companies, research institutes and nationals will be free to research, develop, produce and own not only liquid fuel but also solid fuel and various types of hybrid space rockets, without any restrictions.Solid fuel is less expensive, offers greater mobility for missiles and rockets and reduces launch preparation time. Kim said the revised agreement still bars South Korea from having a missile with a range of more than 800 kilometers but added Seoul could discuss altering that restriction with Washington if that’s needed for South Korean national security. Kim said South Korea could use solid fuel-based rockets to launch military reconnaissance satellites. South Korea currently has no spy satellites. South Korea’s missile capability is inferior to that of rival North Korea. In 2017, North Korea carried out three intercontinental ballistic missile tests as part of its stated efforts to build a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
…