Nations around the world are evacuating their students and other citizens from coronavirus-stricken China, while other countries are choosing to leave their citizens in Wuhan, the university city where the virus reportedly started.Around 500 Bangladeshi students are among the stranded in Wuhan. They have called for help on social media, while the Chinese and Bangladesh governments negotiate a strategy. “Through the social [media] site WeChat, students got informed of the mystery infectious virus that was spreading fast,” Mazharul Islam, a freshman in the School of Electrical Engineering at Wuhan University, told VOA. “However, we were told that there is nothing to get worried about and the virus is under control. Later through WeChat we were advised to use masks when stepping out of the dormitory.”Islam said there were 30 Bangladeshi students on his campus. Through Chinese social media WeChat, he said, he and others learned there were 500 Bangladeshi students in Wuhan. He said the Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing “would notify us if there were any emergency evacuation taking place.” He said they have been provided with masks and preventive medicines from the university.Masudur Rahman, the deputy chief of mission at the Bangladesh Embassy in Beijing, said of the 3,000 More than 60 Afghan students are among foreigners stranded in Wuhan. The Afghan government has asked China to keep the students in Wuhan and not send them back to Afghanistan, much to the disappointment of their families in Afghanistan.“Universities are locked-down, and students are stranded at their rooms and are not allowed to leave their campuses,” said Ahmad Jawed Beheshti, an Afghan student at Sichuan University in China. “Just yesterday, they closed off our university.”Javed Ahmad Qaem, Afghan ambassador to China, told VOA the students have not been forgotten.”They are nervous, but Chinese authorities are acting responsibly,” he said. “They have a focal point for each embassy. If and when relocation is allowed inside China or outside China, we will also be at the forefront. So far relocation is not allowed. They are isolated and we are monitoring the situation closely.”The president of the Indonesian Student Association (PPI) of Chinape, Nur Musyafak, in Wuhan said Indonesian citizens — including students — want to get out of the city. Foreign Ministry data show there are 428 Indonesian citizens studying in Wuhan. Most of those students returned to Indonesia for winter break.But those remaining in China need a recommendation letter from the Indonesian Republic Embassy if they want to leave.”We’re gathering all the passport numbers of these 98” Indonesians who remain in Wuhan. “Once we have the data, we will request a letter from the Indonesian Embassy,” Nur told VOA.The dorm is 20 kilometers from the Huanan Seafood Market, where the coronavirus is suspected of emanating. Campuses in Wuhan have distributed masks, liquid soap, and free thermometers to students, Nur said. The universities have instructed students not to leave their room too often.Authorities in Myanmar said they had cancelled a planned evacuation of 60 students from Mandalay who were studying in Wuhan. Kyaw Yin Myint, a spokesman for the Mandalay municipal government, told Reuters that a “final decision” had been made to send them back after 14 days, once the virus’ incubation period had passed.In Russia, direct flights from Wuhan to Moscow were suspended last week. At least 140 Russians, 75 of them students, are known to be in Wuhan and Hubei, the Russian embassy in China said on Monday, Reuters reported from the TASS news agency.The United States said it would evacuate personnel and citizens in China, several news outlets reported. The U.S. State Department said it will evacuate personnel from its Wuhan consulate to the United States and offer a limited number of seats to private U.S. citizens on a flight. Some private citizens will be able to board the “single flight” leaving Wuhan on Jan. 28 for San Francisco, it said.Sayed Hasib Mawdoodi of VOA’s Afghan Service in Kabul, Sanjana Feroz and KabirUddin Sarkar of the Bangla Service in Washington, and Rio Tuasikal of the Indonesian Service in Bandung, Indonesia, contributed to this report.
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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
As North Korea Reverts to Self-Reliance, Experts Urge Pressuring Elites
As North Korea returns to self-reliance to maintain its faltering state-run economy, experts said sanctioning the financial lifelines of regime leaders might put added pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear weapons program.”Washington and its allies should be calibrating sanctions that target the regime/party elites’ financial lifeline,” said Matthew Ha, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). “The critical entity that would affect change amongst North Korea’s leadership are banks and financial institutions.”Ever since leader Kim Jong Un said at a party meeting in December that North Korea must cope with sanctions with self-reliance, Pyongyang has been mobilizing to reinforce self-sufficiency.”There is no need to hesitate with any expectation of the U.S. lifting of sanctions,” said Kim. He urged the nation to make a “frontal breakthrough to foil the enemies’ sanctions and blockade by dint of self-reliance.”Self-reliance, or FILE – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends the 5th Plenary Meeting of the 7th Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) in this undated photo released Dec. 31, 2019, by North Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).North Korea’s official newspaper FILE – A cargo ship is loaded with coal at the North Korean port of Rajin, July 18, 2014.”When we talk about sanctions pressure, we really need to be targeting where strategic decisions can be made to really adjust the calculus of [the regime’s] leaders,” said Ha. “In a dictatorship, it’s the elites that are going to be more likely to make a change in decision.” Ha said sanctions should target North Korea’s overseas bank accounts that its regime leaders maintain to run overseas operations to bring in foreign revenue.”There are [local overseas] middlemen that are literally pushing the money through for a lot of [North Korean] individuals and the companies that they run to help provide financial revenue for the regime,” said Ha. Joshua Stanton, a Washington-based attorney who helped draft the North Korea Sanctions Enforcement and Policy Enforcement Act in 2016, said, “Maximum pressure will really be maximum pressure when there are nine-digit penalties against Chinese banks that’s laundering North Korean money.” Targeting financial lifelines of the regime’s elites, comprised of government and military officials, would likely pressure Kim, because he needs their loyalty to stay in power, according to Ha.”He must keep his people happy, especially the elites,” said Ha. “He needs to be able to gain the loyalty of elites. I think if they see their situation compromised, it’ll be a problem.” On Jan. 14, the FILE – U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un meet during the second U.S.-North Korea summit at the Sofitel Legend Metropole hotel in Hanoi, Feb. 28, 2019.He added, “So their effort to substitute for imported oil with gasification of coal which they have in abundance [has] been one of the responses” to deal with sanctions. As if to emphasize his regime’s utilization of coal, Kim visited several North Korean factories, including a Experts said even though North Korea tries to sustain its economy through self-reliance, there is little prospect that its efforts will succeed.Troy Stangarone, senior director of the Korea Economic Institute, said a new mountain resort North Korea opened in Samjiyon County in December has been “a showpiece” to stress that “the regime can be self-reliant domestically.”However, he continued, “Even North Korea has hinted that the human cost has been enormous to complete the project, suggesting that it is far from a sign of success.”Babson said, “The senior leadership has come to understand that without trade and investment, you can’t do that all on your own.”Unenthusiastic publicAnother complication comes from the North Korean people who are unenthusiastic about the return to Juche when many have been earning money in private markets after losing jobs at state-run factories.”People don’t really particularly like being told they have to go back into forced labor, type of a mobilized labor, to get the economy moving, when they’d rather make money on their own,” he said. In this sense, Babson thinks what the 18th-century Scottish philosopher Adam Smith called “the invisible hand,” an unfettered market force and self-interest that help a country reach an optimum level of economic prosperity, has been at play in North Korea. Smith is often called the father of modern economics.”The incentive to create private wealth through private initiative has been growing in North Korea and in that sense, ‘the invisible hand’ is at work,” said Babson. Babson added that the growth of the market and the desire of people to seek their own economic interest have undermined the old concept of self-reliance.”That concept really has been undermined by the growth of the market economy,” said Babson. “People feel that they’re able to pursue individual interest on [seeking] economic benefit even if it doesn’t benefit the whole. So there’s a breakdown in the understanding of what it means to be self-reliant.” However, with recent resurgence toward self-reliance, the regime is seemingly trying to reverse the course of its economy.Stanton said, “With North Korea, the argument is two steps forward and one step backward, or one step forward and two steps back.” Pyongyang is also apparently facing how to reposition self-reliance in a modernized economy.”There is a real dilemma for the government and for public policy about how [to] integrate the concept of self-reliance in the modern and the way the economy and society have developed since the famine [of 1990s] and the breakdown of the old model,” Babson said.This report originated with VOA’s Korean Service.
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Health Workers in Wuhan Under Growing Risk as Medical Supplies Run Low
Hospitals in and around the center of China’s coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan say they are running so low on medical supplies that doctors and nurses have been asked to wear substandard masks or diapers so that they wouldn’t have to change protective suits so frequently.That has put the health of many of the country’s frontline medical care providers at great risk.”Due to undersupply of protective suits, many of our doctors here have to share one suit. Some of them even have to wear diapers so that they don’t have to change the suits so frequently for fear of running out of them,” a staff surnamed Xiao at Wuhan Puren Hospital told VOA on Monday.”We face a terrible shortage of protective suits,” she added. Shortage of medical suppliesThe hospital in Hubei province is in desperate need of 5,000 protective goggles, 20,000 N95 masks and as many protective suits as possible as it consumes 1,000 goggles and up to 3,000 masks a day, according to Xiao.It is one of some 24 hospitals which have formally asked for donations of medical supplies from the general public including N95 and surgical masks, protective suits and hand sanitizers.FILE – People wait as medical staff, seen in back, wear protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus which began in the city, at Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, Jan. 24, 2020.But results in the past few days have been far from satisfying since most of those private donations are of little use as they fail to live up to medical standards, many of the hospitals said.”Alas, we are running short of lots of supplies. If you can donate. … But the problem is that most [of the general public’s] donated supplies are not helpful. They do not live up to our higher medical standards,” a staff, also surnamed Xiao, from Wuhan No.1 Hospital told VOA.”We’re trying all other possible avenues to replenish our supplies,” she added. Pop-up hospitalsWhile tackling a shortage of medical supplies, authorities in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, are also rushing to build two emergency hospitals, one of which is planned to contain 1,000 beds and be up and running by Feb. 3.According to state media reports, the city’s second such ‘pop-up’ hospital will offer an additional 1,300 beds in two weeks in order to treat more patients suspected of contracting the deadly pneumonia-like virus.The move appears to signal an uphill battle for China to contain the spread of the virus.A city health official pledged to include more hospitals to join the fight if the number of patients rise, state media reported.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, wearing a mask, talks with staff members as he visits the construction site where a hospital is being built to treat patients of a new coronavirus, following the outbreak, on the outskirts of Wuhan, China, Jan. 27, 2020.The death toll for China’s worst public health crisis since SARS in 2003 has risen to 81 people, including a 9-month-old baby, with more than 3,000 confirmed cases worldwide.Emotional breakdownsUnder tremendous pressure, some medical providers working at the frontline have experienced emotional breakdowns.A video clip circulating online showed a Chinese doctor crying over concerns of lack of hospital resources to treat patients while, in another video clip, a nurse said that she hasn’t called her loved ones during the New Year holidays for fear of bursting into tears. More importantly, she said she doesn’t want her family to worry about her safety.Medical staff, exposed to the patients but given insufficient protection, say they are growing uneasy after the first Chinese doctor reportedly died of exposure to patients on Saturday.A staff member at Wuhan Jinyintang Hospital told VOA on Monday that the hospital has run short of surgical masks, and that some of their nurses can do nothing but hope that wearing multiple non-surgical facial masks can provide them enough protection while caring for the highly contagious patients. Thanks to campaigns via GoFundMe, Weibo and WeChat, medical supplies reportedly are being sent to Hubei province, although almost all are directed to Wuhan.A hospital at the neighboring city of Huanggang said it is hoping its pressure of being equally under-resourced can be relieved when donated supplies arrive later.”Because those masks and protective suits are for one-time use, we’ve recently begun to ask for donated supplies. We’ve only received a very small portion of the delivery, most of which is probably still on the way. We are not sure how many more supplies we will have,” said a staff member surnamed Yang from the Huanggang Central Hospital.
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Trump Offers China ‘Any Help’ to Fight Coronavirus
U.S. President Donald Trump has offered China any help needed to combat a deadly outbreak of a coronavirus that has killed 81 people.In a Monday tweet, Trump said, “We are in very close communication with China concerning the virus,” adding, “We have offered China and President Xi (Jinping) any help that is necessary. Our experts are extraordinary!”Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the city of Wuhan on Monday to meet with health officials and examine the response to the outbreak. Wuhan is the center of the outbreak and people there and in several other cities face strict restrictions on movement as the government tries to prevent the virus from spreading.The head of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, arrived Monday in Beijing, where he is expected to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the outbreak. The agency said there is still a chance to get ahead of the virus if there is strong cooperation.Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, wearing a mask and protective suit, speaks to medical workers as he visits the Jinyintan hospital where the patients of the new coronavirus are being treated, in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, Jan. 27, 2020.Beijing authorities also reported the capital’s first death from the virus.Separately, in an effort to stop the virus from spreading, Mongolia closed its vast border with China, while Hong Kong and Malaysia announced they would ban entry to visitors from Wuhan.Global stock markets plunged Monday as investors feared the economic impact from the coronavirus.Chinese officials took an extra step Sunday to extend the Lunar New Year holiday three extra days to cut down on group gatherings.Global spreadThe latest figures reported by Chinese health officials include more than 2,700 cases of people being sickened by the virus.Cases have also been reported in Australia, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Nepal, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. The World Health Organization says most of those are people had a travel history in Wuhan, with several others having contact with someone who traveled there.People queue up to purchase face masks outside a shop in Hong Kong, Jan. 27, 2020.There have been no reported deaths linked to the virus outside of China.The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s respiratory disease office, Nancy Messonnier, said Sunday there were five confirmed cases in the United States, and that all five people had direct contact with others in Wuhan.The patients are isolated in hospitals as doctors and health officials try to learn more about the virus. The CDC says it is investigating about 100 suspected cases in 26 states.Chinese National Health Commission Minister Ma Xiaowei said Sunday little is known about the virus. But doctors do know it has an incubation period that can range from one to 14 days. Ma said the virus is infectious during the incubation period, when no signs or symptoms of the disease are present.’Grave situation’President Xi Jinping said China is facing a “grave situation” and experts and other resources would be concentrated at specific hospitals to treat severe cases.The virus is believed to have emerged late last year at a Wuhan seafood market illegally selling wildlife. Chinese authorities have imposed a temporary ban on the selling of wildlife. Wuhan is the capital of China’s Hubei province.Paramilitary police wear face masks as they stand guard at Tiananmen Gate adjacent to Tiananmen Square in Beijing, Jan. 27, 2020.The virus hit China just as it was beginning celebrations to mark the Lunar New Year, resulting in the canceling or the scaling back of festivities for tens of millions of Chinese. Tourist destinations are closed and school closings have been extended in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. Public transportation has been severely restricted. Many businesses have closed or asked employees to work from home.The WHO recommends several steps to help protect people against acute respiratory infections. They include avoiding close contact with those already infected, frequent hand-washing, and avoiding unprotected contact with farm animals and wild animals.VOA’s Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
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Cambodia Confirms First Coronavirus Case
The Cambodian Ministry of Health confirmed Monday evening the first case of the novel coronavirus in the country’s coastal province of Preah Sihanouk. One male member of a Chinese family, which had flown into Sihanoukville from Wuhan, China, was confirmed infected with the virus, said Health Minister Mam Bunheng. Three other members of his family are currently under observation at the Preah Sihanouk Referral Hospital. The family arrived in Cambodia on January 23 and the 60-year-old Chinese national Jia Jinhua started to show flu-like symptoms on January 25, while staying at a hotel in Sihanoukville, said the health minister.”After Jia Jinhua was swimming at the pool [at the hotel] he had a fever,” said Mam Bunheng.Mam Bunheng added that the family had stayed at two different hotels for three nights in the coastal town. On the 26th, local health officials tested the man for the coronavirus, which was confirmed at 3 p.m. Monday afternoon.
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Countries Evacuating Nationals From China Virus Areas
Countries around the world are planning to evacuate diplomatic staff and private citizens from Chinese areas hit by the new coronavirus, which is spreading quickly.Wuhan, a city of 11 million people in the Chinese province of Hubei, is the epicentre of the outbreak. Wuhan is in virtual lockdown and much of Hubei, home to nearly 60 million people, is
under some kind of travel curb.
Following are some countries’ evacuation plans, and how they are planning to manage the health risk from those who are returning.
* France expects to repatriate up to a few hundred of its 800 citizens living in the Wuhan area. Evacuees will have to spend 14 days in quarantine to avoid spreading the virus in France.
* Japan is expected to arrange charter flights as early as Tuesday for any of its citizens who wish to return from Wuhan, two sources familiar with the matter said. Foreign Minister
Toshimitsu Motegi said about 430 Japanese nationals have been confirmed to be in Hubei province.
* Spain’s government is working with China and the European Union to repatriate Spanish nationals from the Wuhan area, Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said.
* The U.S. State Department said it will evacuate personnel from its Wuhan consulate to the United States and will offer a limited number of seats to private U.S. citizens on a flight.
Some private citizens will be able to board the “single flight” leaving Wuhan on Jan. 28 bound for San Francisco, it said.
* Britain is talking to international partners to find solutions to help British and other foreign nationals leave Wuhan, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
* Russia has been in talks with China about evacuating its nationals from Wuhan and Hubei province, Russia’s Embassy in China said.
* The Dutch government is assessing ways to evacuate 20 Dutch citizens from Wuhan, press agency ANP reported.
* Authorities in Myanmar said they had cancelled a planned evacuation of 60 students from Mandalay who were studying in Wuhan. Kyaw Yin Myint, a spokesman for the Mandalay municipal government, told Reuters that a “final decision” had been made to send them back after 14 days, once the virus’ incubation period had passed.
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Expert: Second-Generation Coronavirus Could be More Deadly
An expert in China warns that the new strain of virus originating from the Chinese city of Wuhan could be gaining strength and increasing its ability to transfer from one person to another. The coronavirus that is causing respiratory problems similar to pneumonia has sickened close to 3,000 people worldwide and killed at least 56 in China, prompting governments to come up with measures to protect their citizens. VOA’s Zlatica Hoke reports.
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Chinese Premier Visits Wuhan as Virus Death Toll Hits 80
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang visited the city of Wuhan on Monday to meet with health officials and examine the response to the outbreak of a coronavirus that has killed 80 people.Wuhan is the center of the outbreak and people there and in several other cities face strict restrictions on movement as the government tries to prevent the virus from spreading.Officials took an extra step Sunday to extend the Lunar New Year holiday three extra days to cut down on group gatherings.The latest figures reported by Chinese health officials include more than 2,700 cases of people being sickened by the virus.Cases have also been reported in Australia, Canada, France, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, Malaysia, Nepal, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. The World Health Organization says most of those are people who had a travel history in Wuhan, with several others having contact with someone who traveled there.There have been no reported deaths linked to the virus outside of China.The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention respiratory disease office, Nancy Messonnier, said Sunday there were five confirmed cases in the United States, and that all five people had direct contact with others in Wuhan.The patients are isolated in hospitals as doctors and health officials try to find out more about the virus. The CDC says it is investigating about 100 suspected cases in 26 states.Chinese National Health Commission Minister Ma Xiaowei said Sunday little is known about the virus. But doctors do know it has an incubation period that can range from one to 14 days. Ma said the virus is infectious during the incubation period, when no signs or symptoms of the disease are present..President Xi Jinping said China is facing a “grave situation” and experts and other resources would be concentrated at specific hospitals to treat severe cases of the illness.The virus is believed to have emerged late last year in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, at a seafood market illegally selling wildlife. Chinese authorities have imposed a temporary ban on the selling of wildlife. The virus hit China just as it was beginning the celebrations of the Lunar New Year, resulting in the canceling or the scaling back of festivities for tens of millions of Chinese. Tourist destinations are closed and school closings have been extended, in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. Public transportation has been severely restricted.The WHO recommends several steps to help protect people against acute respiratory infections. They include avoiding close contact with those already infected, frequent hand-washing and avoiding unprotected contact with farm animals and wild animals.
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US Warns Britain Against China’s Huawei 5G Network
U.S. President Donald Trump has warned British Prime Minister Boris Johnson of “serious consequences” if he allows the Chinese telecom giant Huawei a role in building Britain’s 5G phone network, according to officials on both sides of the Atlantic.The warning follows months of lobbying of Downing Street by top U.S. officials who aim to persuade the British government to shut out the Chinese company on security grounds.Trump told Johnson Friday that giving Huawei, which has ties to Chinese intelligence agencies, the go-ahead will cause a major rift in transatlantic relations and jeopardize intelligence-sharing between Washington and London, according to U.S. officials. They say the decision, expected Tuesday, will also likely impact the prospects for a post-Brexit transatlantic trade deal eagerly sought by Britain to compensate for likely diminished trade with the European Union.U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin on Saturday dubbed the Huawei deal a threat to “critical” infrastructure. But he indicated that if Downing Street falls into line, the U.S. will “dedicate a lot of resources” to getting a trade deal negotiated and signed by the end of the year.
The Huawei decision is also being watched closely on Capitol Hill.In an unprecedented move, three Republican senators — Tom Cotton, John Cornyn and Marco Rubio — sent a letter to Britain’s National Security Council urging Huawei to be excluded from 5G development. “The company’s actions show a clear record of predatory and problematic behavior,” the senators said, adding it would “in the best interest of the United Kingdom, the US-UK special relationship, and the health and wellbeing of a well-functioning market for 5G technologies to exclude Huawei.”FILE – Signage is seen at the Huawei offices in Reading, Britain, May 2, 2019.US sees Trojan horseFor a year, the Trump administration has been urging Britain to ban the Chinese company from participating in the development of Britain’s fifth-generation wireless network. U.S. officials say there’s a significant risk that the Chinese telecoms giant will act as a Trojan horse for Beijing’s espionage agencies, planting ‘backdoors’ into any equipment supplied to Britain, enabling data to be swept up and intelligence gathered. The U.S. imposed its own trade restrictions on Huawei last year.Huawei vehemently denies that it could be used by Beijing for intelligence purposes, saying that U.S. allegations are “baseless speculation.” The Chinese government says Huawei is a private company and poses no security risk to the West.But Beijing has also made ill-disguised threats, suggesting a decision to ban Huawei could result in Britain being punished when it comes to Chinese trade and investment. Similar warnings have been issued to other Western countries, all of which have been urged by U.S. officials to shun Huawei on security grounds.U.S. lobbying has been especially fierce among members of the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence-sharing pact — the U.S.-led Anglophone intelligence arrangement linking Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Britain. Australia and New Zealand, although as yet not Canada, have banned Huawei from any role in developing their 5G networks. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is due to make a last effort to dissuade Johnson during a visit to London this week.In Germany, the Huawei issue has sparked a major division between Chancellor Angel Merkel, who fears Chinese retaliation if Huawei is excluded, and her coalition partners, the Social Democrats, who are opposed to offering Huawei any 5G role. Merkel’s ministries are also deeply split, with the trade and finance ministers backing Huawei’s involvement and foreign and intelligence officials highly skeptical that the risks are worth it.Both the White House and Downing Street have sought to play down talk of a transatlantic rift. In a bland statement Friday, the White House said Trump and Johnson “discussed important regional and bilateral issues, including working together to ensure the security of our telecommunications networks.”FILE – People attend a Huawei Mate20 smartphone series launch event in London, Britain, Oct. 16, 2018.’Next Chinese virus’A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The prime minister spoke to president Trump. They discussed a range of issues, including cooperation to ensure the security of our telecommunications networks.”But behind the scenes, the lobbying has been furious and the issue risks splitting the British cabinet, with several ministers determined to block Huawei, fearing the damage that could be done to Britain’s so-called special relationship with the U.S.The crescendo of the U.S. anti-Huawei campaign has been mirrored in London as it emerged last week that Johnson appeared set to give Huawei the green light, discounting U.S. alarm and prompting growing unease among his own Conservative lawmakers. Some have likened the political damage Huawei is causing to the coronavirus epidemic threatening to spread to the West, saying it is the “next Chinese virus.”If Johnson does give the go-ahead, it would confirm a ‘provisional’ decision made by his predecessor in Downing Street, Theresa May. Last year, she said Huawei should be allowed to build some so-called ‘non-core’ parts of Britain’s future 5G data network.U.S. intelligence officials and their counterparts at Britain’s GCHQ, the eavesdropping spy agency and the country’s largest intelligence service, say restricting Huawei to the non-core ‘edges’ of the new network would make little difference to the security risk.Johnson has come under pressure from British telecom providers and mobile phone companies, which have already been installing Huawei technology to start setting up the new network. They have warned that Huawei offers more advanced, better integrated and cheaper equipment than its commercial rivals, and banning the company would delay the rollout of 5G, costing the British economy billions of pounds.
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US to Evacuate ‘Limited’ Number of Americans from Wuhan
Private American citizens living and working in Wuhan are being warned there will not be room for many of them on an evacuation flight being prepared for U.S. consular staff in the epicenter of the Coronavirus epidemic.”The Department of State is making arrangements to relocate its personnel stationed at the U.S. Consulate General in Wuhan to the United States,” the U.S. Embassy in Beijing wrote on Sunday, adding that the flight will travel directly from Wuhan to San Francisco.”This capacity is extremely limited and if there is insufficient ability to transport everyone who expresses interest, priority will be given to individuals at greater risk from coronavirus,” a statement said.An American citizen teaching at a university in Wuhan, who asked that her name not be used for fear of Chinese retribution, told VOA that neither the consulate nor the U.S. Embassy in Beijing has yet contacted most American citizens in the city.”Maybe they have reached out to a few privileged individuals, but on the whole, they are not reaching out to average American citizens. We have received almost no support and no help,” the woman told VOA’s Mandarin Service.An announcement on the U.S. Embassy’s website directs citizens to apply for a seat on the plane by contacting American Citizen Services with their passport information.”There are thousands of us Americans in Wuhan,” the American citizen said. “A 747 seats like 250 people, they’re not going to take everyone out. Even if every single person wanted to leave, they would not take all of us,” she said, referring to the Boeing 747 jet that will likely be chartered for the flight.The announcement comes amid travel restrictions around the wider region, but especially in the city of Wuhan. The streets have been largely quiet amid ambiguous regulations on which vehicles can and cannot be on the road, even in urban areas.Some Wuhan residents have reported that early in the outbreak, individuals were arrested and accused of spreading “rumors” about the disease on social media. The American teacher said that in addition to the restrictions on her travel, the disinformation and fear of authority in Wuhan have added to the stress produced by the outbreak.”This is the craziest experience I’ve ever lived through in my entire life. I wish it weren’t happening. It’s it’s a nightmare,” she said.The disease, which has killed 56 people and sickened almost 2,000 around the world, has spread to about 15 countries, including France, Canada and the United States, where a third confirmed case was reported in southern California late Saturday.The World Health Organization said Thursday the potentially deadly virus has not yet developed into a worldwide health emergency.
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Survey: Vietnam Has One of Highest Rates of Consumer Savings
Vietnamese savings are reaching new highs, but observers disagree about whether saving so much is a good sign.Market research company Nielsen found in a survey last month that Vietnam has one of the world’s highest rates of consumer savings, with 69% of Vietnamese surveyed saying they put spare cash into savings, compared with 68% in Hong Kong, 66% in China, and 62% in Indonesia.As a developing nation, Vietnam is becoming increasingly wealthy, and citizens are saving more, joining a global trend of increased savings.Although saving seems good for individuals, observers, from Deutsche Bank strategist Binky Chadha to former U.S. Federal Reserve chair Ben S. Bernanke, have worried there is a surplus in savings in the world economy, which can distort the broader investment environment and lead to negative interest rates — meaning retirees must pay to keep their savings in a bank. ‘An asset bubble’In the U.S. for instance, the excess savings have pushed the stock market to record highs, which analysts say is approaching a bubble. In Vietnam, the excess savings has also fed an asset bubble, particularly in real estate.Vietnam’s economy is growing quickly but experts disagree on how to interpret the wealth that it is generating. On the one hand, there may not be enough productive investments available, so savers are investing in luxury real estate that is feeding a bubble, according to a research note by Oxford Analytica. On the other hand, being able to set aside so much money is a positive sign from consumers, according to Nielsen Vietnam.“As more and more people feel confident about their future, despite better job security, they are putting away more for a rainy day rather than spending today,” Louise Hawley, managing director at Nielsen Vietnam, said. “This also suggests optimism in what tomorrow will bring.”A sign of anxiety?However the high savings rate could also be interpreted as a sign of anxiety, as people worry they will need the money for retirement.”One of the main reasons why Vietnamese people have to save is because there is no social security network,” a commenter wrote in the local newspaper Thanh Nien.This means Vietnam is part of a global trend identified by Chadha. He noticed that savings rates are going up, even though interest rates are going down, sometimes to negative rates, so people are not saving money to earn interest. Instead Chadha sees this as a sign that people are saving because they fear they will not have enough funds in the future.Vietnam’s savings rate is not an isolated issue. Bernanke argued that Asia, particularly China, has earned so much from exports that the money has contributed to a “global savings glut.” More recently Vietnam has also become one of the developing Asia nations with high exports and, therefore, a current account surplus.FILE – An employee counts U.S. dollars at a branch of HD Bank in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam, Jan. 12, 2018.This has implications for the rest of the world. Like China, Vietnam uses its surplus to buy U.S. Treasury bonds, stoking worries that the U.S. is increasingly indebted to foreign nations. The high demand for U.S. bonds is also a reason the U.S. doesn’t have to pay a lot of interest on its bonds, thus driving down interest rates.Vietnam also uses its surplus to buy a lot of foreign currency reserves, particularly U.S. dollars. The U.S. Treasury complained in a report this month that this helps drive up the value of U.S. dollars and drive down the value of the Vietnamese dong, making Vietnam’s exports seem even cheaper at a time when the Trump administration wants U.S. consumers to buy fewer Vietnamese products.“Vietnam should reduce its intervention and allow for movement in the exchange rate in line with economic fundamentals,” the report said.Still, in Vietnam Hawley said there is reason for optimism. Her company’s survey last month indicated the Southeast Asian nation has one of the world’s highest levels of consumer confidence, just after India and the Philippines.As with savings, however, the indications on financial security could go either way.Of surveyed Vietnamese 77% said they felt secure, which is lower than the level indicated at the same time the prior year, but higher than the level seen in the previous quarter’s survey.
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Kim Jong Un a ‘Great Golfer,’ Trump said in 2018
U.S. President Donald Trump poked fun at North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s alleged golfing prowess during a private dinner in April 2018, joking that golfing legend Jack Nicklaus is “a beginner” by comparison.Trump also questioned U.S. involvement in the 1950s Korean War, according to a recording of the dinner first published by ABC News.”You know that Kim Jon Ung is a great golfer,” Trump told his dinner guests, mispronouncing the name of the North Korean leader he would meet for the first time in Singapore six weeks later. “He would make Jack Nicklaus look like a beginner.”Trump continued, apparently mocking the cult of personality that North Korean state media have cultivated for the three generations of the ruling Kim family.”Did you ever hear that? He shot an 18,” Trump said amid roars of laughter from the guests, before adding: “It’s actually his father, you know who they said shot an 18.””It’s just one weird deal,” Trump added.The comments came as Trump was shifting his approach toward the young North Korean leader.In 2017, Trump routinely mocked Kim, calling him “Little Rocket Man” and insinuating in a tweet that he was “short and fat.” Trump also threatened North Korea with “fire and fury like the world has never seen” and warned he could “totally destroy” the country.But in early 2018, Trump drastically changed course, announcing he would meet Kim face to face. The two men met for the first time that June, signing a vague statement about the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The talks have since stalled.At the dinner, which took place on April 30, Trump can be heard telling his guests about the plans for the upcoming Singapore summit.”The North Korea thing is moving along very well. We have a site now. You know, we picked a site. They announce pretty soon. And a location, plus a date,” Trump said. “And he really wants to do something, I tell you. Part of the reason he wants to do two things – I mean maybe the rhetoric and maybe we put sanctions like you wouldn’t believe.”One of the guests can be heard asking whether Trump would consider hosting the meeting at Songdo, a so-called “smart city” just outside Seoul. Trump said he would consider Songdo, but that plans for the Kim summit were already “very far down the line.”The recording was released by a lawyer for Lev Parnas, an associate of Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. Parnas was indicted last year on campaign finance-related charges, and released the tape amid Trump’s impeachment.On the tape, Trump calls for the firing of U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. Democrats have pointed to Trump’s firing of Yovanovitch as one of the reasons he should be removed from office.The dinner, which was attended by Trump donors, took place at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC.Trump targets South KoreaDuring the dinner, Trump also took aim at South Korea on trade, after one of the dinner guests complained that South Korea was exporting Chinese steel to the United States.”We’re doing a big number for them. Can you believe it?” Trump said, apparently referencing the U.S. military presence in Korea. “I could write a book on that.”After one of the guests mentioned that the U.S. spends “billions of dollars to save [South Korea] from North Korea,” Trump reflected on the history of the U.S.-South Korea alliance.”How we ever got involved in South Korea in the first place, you know, tell me about it. How we ended up in a Korean war,” Trump said as his guests laughed.FILE – A U.S. soldier stands guard in front of their Air F-16 fighter jet at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Jan. 10, 2016.The U.S. has 28,500 troops in South Korea, a remnant of the 1950s era Korean War, which ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. The Pentagon says the troops are meant to deter North Korea.Trump has long complained that Seoul is not paying enough for the cost of the U.S. military presence.For a second consecutive year, negotiators failed to reach an agreement before the military cost-sharing deal expired on December 31. Officials have said the talks have made progress, but that gaps remain.Trump has at times dismissed the need for U.S. troops in Korea. Asked last month if it was in the U.S. security interest to keep troops in South Korea and the region, Trump said he could go “either way.”
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Philippines Lowers Volcano Alert, Thousands Can Return Home
An explosive eruption of the Philippines’ restive Taal volcano no longer appears imminent, authorities said Sunday as they lifted most of a mass evacuation order but warned residents to remain ready to flee.Warning signs like earthquakes have been steadily waning since Taal burst to life two weeks ago with plumes of ash and lava, forcing over 135,000 people into shelters over fears a massive blast was coming.The nation’s seismological agency said steadily shrinking ash and gas emissions were signs of “decreased tendency towards hazardous explosive eruption,” leading them to drop the alert by a notch.The immediate impact of the reduced warning was the lifting of the evacuation order for nearly all the towns that ring the volcano, a tourist attraction that sits in the middle of a lake.”Residents of all towns under lockdown except Agoncillo and Laurel now have the option to return,” local governor Hermilando Mandanas told a press conference.”There’s a possibility that the volcano may still erupt and we should still be ready to evacuate in one hour.”No one is known to have died in the eruption, but the ash it unleashed forced the brief closure of the capital’s main international airport, stranding tens of thousands of travelers.The volcano shot ash 15 kilometers (nine miles) high and spewed lava in the January 12 eruption, which crushed scores of homes and killed livestock as well as crops.However, seismologists warned the volcano could unleash a much bigger eruption “within hours to days,” posing a deadly risk to anyone in a 14-kilometer radius “danger zone.”The volcano island is still under evacuation orders, and the thousands who lived there will not be allowed to return, the government has said.’Not really afraid’Taal, located just 60 kilometers from the capital Manila, is one of the most active volcanoes in a country where eruptions and earthquakes are a dangerous part of life.Its last eruption was in 1977, but it has a long history of activity. In 1965, a Taal eruption killed some 200 people.Despite the risks that the volcano erupt could again erupt, many residents were eager to return home.”That’s where we were born, including my ancestors… so we are determined to go back,” said Ronald Humarang, a 32-year-old factory worker.”I am not really afraid [of an explosion] because during the initial eruption, we didn’t evacuate our house immediately,” he told AFP.
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US Consulate to Evacuate Staff From Epidemic-Stricken Wuhan
The U.S. Consulate in the epidemic-stricken Chinese city of Wuhan will evacuate its personnel and some private citizens aboard a charter flight Tuesday.A notice Sunday from the embassy in Beijing said there would be limited capacity to transport U.S. citizens on the flight that will proceed directly to San Francisco.It said that in the event there are not enough seats, priority will be given to to individuals “at greater risk from coronavirus,” a new respiratory disease that has sickened 1,975 people and killed 56, almost all in Wuhan.
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4 dead, 5 Injured in Explosion at South Korean Motel
Four people were killed and five others were injured on Saturday in an explosion at a motel in eastern South Korea.The explosion occurred on the second floor of the motel where seven guests were using a gas stove to grill meat, said Kim Dong-woo, an official from the fire department in the coastal city of Donghae.He said four people inside the room were killed and the other three were seriously injured. The explosion also caused minor injuries to two other guests who were in different rooms.Kim said officials were investigating the cause of the explosion. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said the explosion could have been caused by gas leakage.Officials did not provide the personal details of those who were killed or injured.
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Virus Death Toll Rises in China; Xi Expresses Alarm
The new virus accelerated its spread in China with 56 deaths so far in what the country’s leader called a grave situation, and the government stepped up efforts to restrict travel and public gatherings while rushing medical staff and supplies to the closed-off city at the center of the outbreak. The figures reported Sunday morning covered the previous 24 hours and marked an increase of 15 deaths and 688 cases for a total of 1,975 infections. The government also reported five cases in Hong Kong, two in Macao and three in Taiwan. Small numbers of cases have been found in Thailand, Japan, South Korea, the U.S., Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Nepal, France and Australia. People wear masks as they pray at Wong Tai Sin temple on the first day of the Lunar New Year in Hong Kong, Jan. 25, 2020, as a preventative measure following a coronavirus outbreak that began in Wuhan, China.Canada said it discovered its first case; the man is his 50s and recently flew from Wuhan to Guangzhou, China, and then on to Toronto. President Xi Jinping on Saturday called the spreading illness a grave situation in remarks reported by state broadcaster CCTV. He spoke at a meeting of Communist Party leaders convened on Lunar New Year — the country’s biggest holiday whose celebrations have been muted — and underlined the government’s urgent, expanding efforts to control the outbreak. Travel agencies have been told to halt all group tours, the state-owned English-language China Daily newspaper reported, citing the China Association of Travel Services. A couple wears masks to help stop the spread of a deadly virus as they walk at Jingshawn park, in Beijing, Jan. 25, 2020. China said it would close a section of the Great Wall and other famous Beijing landmarks to control the spread of the virus.Millions of people traveling during the holiday have fueled the spread of the outbreak nationwide and overseas after it began in the city of Wuhan in central China. The vast majority of the infections and all the deaths have been in mainland China, but fresh cases are popping up. Singapore reported its fourth case on Sunday, a 36-year-old man from Wuhan. The Health Ministry said he did not exhibit any symptoms on his flight. He developed a cough the next day, sought treatment on January 24 and was immediately isolated. South Korea confirmed its third case, according to Yonhap news agency. In the heart of the outbreak where 11 million residents are already on lockdown, Wuhan banned most vehicle use, including private cars, in downtown areas starting Sunday, state media reported. Only authorized vehicles will be permitted, the reports said. The city will assign 6,000 taxis to neighborhoods, under the management of resident committees, to help people get around if they need to, China Daily said. Hong Kong’s responseIn Hong Kong, leader Carrie Lam said her government would raise its response level to emergency, the highest one, and close primary and secondary schools for two more weeks on top of next week’s Lunar New Year holiday. They will reopen February 17. Lam said direct flights and trains from Wuhan would be blocked. In a sign of the growing strain on Wuhan’s health care system, the official Xinhua News Agency reported that the city planned to build a second makeshift hospital with about 1,000 beds. The city has said another hospital was expected to be completed February 3. The new virus comes from a large family of what are known as coronaviruses, some causing nothing worse than a cold. It causes cold- and flu-like symptoms, including cough and fever, and in more severe cases, shortness of breath. It can worsen to pneumonia, which can be fatal. Medical staff members wearing protective clothing to help stop the spread of a deadly virus arrive with a patient at the Wuhan Red Cross Hospital in Wuhan, China, Jan. 25, 2020.China cut off trains, planes and other links to Wuhan on Wednesday, as well as public transportation within the city, and has steadily expanded a lockdown to 16 surrounding cities with a combined population of more than 50 million — greater than that of New York, London, Paris and Moscow combined. China’s biggest holiday, Lunar New Year, unfolded Saturday in the shadow of the virus. Authorities canceled a host of events and closed major tourist destinations and movie theaters. Temples, Disneyland closeTemples locked their doors, Beijing’s Forbidden City and Shanghai Disneyland closed, and people canceled restaurant reservations ahead of the holiday, normally a time of family reunions, sightseeing trips and other festivities in the country of 1.4 billion people. “We originally planned to go back to my wife’s hometown and bought train tickets to depart this afternoon,” said Li Mengbin, who was on a stroll near the closed Forbidden City. “We ended up canceling. But I’m still happy to celebrate the new year in Beijing, which I hadn’t for several years.” Temples and parks were decorated with red streamers, paper lanterns and booths, but some places started dismantling the decor. Pedestrians are seen wearing surgical masks in London’s China Town, Jan. 25, 2020. European airports from London to Moscow have stepped up checks on flights from the Chinese city at the heart of a new coronavirus outbreak.People in China wore medical masks to public places like grocery stores, where workers dispensed hand sanitizer to customers. Some parts of the country had checkpoints for temperature readings and made masks mandatory. French automaker PSA Group said it would evacuate its employees from Wuhan, quarantine them and then bring them to France. The Foreign Ministry said it was working on “eventual options” to evacuate French citizens from Wuhan “who want to leave.” It didn’t elaborate. The National Health Commission said it was bringing in medical teams to help handle the outbreak, a day after videos circulating online showed throngs of frantic people in masks lined up for examinations and complaints that family members had been turned away at hospitals that were at capacity. Military staffThe Chinese military dispatched 450 medical staff, some with experience in past outbreaks, including SARS and Ebola, who arrived in Wuhan late Friday to help treat many patients hospitalized with viral pneumonia, Xinhua reported. Xinhua also said medical supplies were being rushed to the city, including 14,000 protective suits, 110,000 pairs of gloves, and masks and goggles. The rapid increase in reported deaths and illnesses does not necessarily mean the crisis is getting worse but could reflect better monitoring and reporting of the virus. It is not clear how lethal the new coronavirus is or even whether it is as dangerous as the ordinary flu, which kills tens of thousands of people every year in the U.S. alone.
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Heavy Rains Subdue Fires in Australia’s Queensland, Cause Flooding
Australia’s bushfire-stricken state of Queensland saw heavy rainfalls on Sunday that dampened some of the fires that have razed 2.5 million hectares (1.2 million acres) since September, but the wet weather caused major flooding. Some areas received a quarter of the annual average rainfall, according to Reuters’ calculations, with the state’s Bureau of Meteorology saying coastal areas experienced up to 160 millimeters (6.3 inches) of rain in the 24-hour period ending at 9 a.m. on Sunday. “More rain expected over the coming days,” the bureau said on Twitter. Several people were rescued from floodwaters and some bridges and causeways were closed, but no severe damage had been reported. Recent rains across drought-hit Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales states have substantially dampened many of the hundreds of bushfires that have burned an area nearly the size of Greece and killed 33 people and millions of animals since September.
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Concerns Grow About Coronavirus Challenge
Chinese President Xi Jinping has earned the praise of U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders for his handling of the coronavirus outbreak, which has killed 41 people and sickened more than 1,200. The disease has spread to about 15 countries, including the United States and France. “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!” Trump said in a tweet Friday. The appreciation is the result of some impressive measures that include isolating nearly 40 million people across 18 cities and towns in the most affected province, Hubei. In two weeks, the government has requisitioned military doctors and has begun building two hospitals to house 2,300 patients in Hubei. Excavators and bulldozers are seen at a construction site where a hospital is being built to treat those affected by a new strain of coronavirus, on the outskirts of Wuhan, China, Jan. 24, 2020.Xi is also reaching out to world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as part of an image management drive, because Chinese travelers are being named as carriers of the disease. He said China is ready to work with the international community to effectively curb the spread of the pneumonia cases caused by the new strain of coronavirus to uphold global health security. Still, there are rising concerns that the challenge the disease presents may be much bigger than is evident from official reports. Despite some energetic action from the central government in Beijing, there are questions about delayed responses since the disease surfaced in mid-December. Economic impactAddressing the concerns is important because of the risk that the disease might severely damage the Chinese economy. “Should the virus break out to a full-blown pandemic, it will certainly have a major impact on the economy,” Max Zenglein, head of economic research at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin, told VOA. “At this stage, it is already likely to affect consumption- and travel-related services during China’s major holiday season. A clear picture should emerge within the next two weeks when the country’s economy returns to normal following the Chinese New Year,” he said. Though Xi and other Chinese leaders have called for total transparency in reporting on the response to the virus, they also have made a point of emphasizing the need to “safeguard social stability.” The idea is to avoid the public panic that can occur if available information paints a grim scenario. Officials in Wuhan city, where the highest number of infections has been reported, have punished eight people for wrongly reporting the situation on social media. This was seen as a signal to social media users not to challenge official information. “In general, the government is using the traditional Chinese Communist Party approach,” Fu King-wa, associate professor at the University of Hong Kong‘s Journalism and Media Studies Center, was quoted as saying in media reports. The goal is “to control the information, to control the media, to control the narrative and to give the people the idea that the government is handling the issue.” People wearing protective masks stand outside the entrance of the Forbidden City where a notice says the place is closed to visitors following the outbreak of a new coronavirus, in Beijing, China, Jan. 25, 2020.Disease featuresThe disease is exhibiting some sinister features, suggesting the actual extent of infections may be much larger than the Chinese government has reported. Many of the patients have been found without such telltale symptoms as coughing, fever and pneumonia. They have had other symptoms, such as a sense of tightening in the chest, which could be confused with other ailments. China’s National Health Commission is struggling to determine the right kind of guidance it can give to doctors for making diagnoses. Two of the five most recent cases of infection in Beijing have involved people who had no exposure to people from Hubei province. That has raised questions about whether there is another source. Different groups of scientists have suggested different animals, ranging from bats to snakes to mink, as the “reservoir” of the coronavirus. There also is an ongoing battle to come up with a vaccine, but this may take a long time. Millions of Chinese are traveling from their homes as part of the ongoing Spring Festival celebration. The extent of the infection rate could change as they begin to return home over the next four to five days, having mingled in crowds at bus stops, railway stations and airports. Transmission rates are highest in crowds.
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Vietnam Explores Increasing Foreign Military Cooperation to Resist China
Vietnam indicates in a recent defense white paper it will pursue stronger military ties abroad as China challenges its maritime sovereignty claims, and analysts expect that to mean more exercises with Western-leaning foreign powers and brisker purchases of foreign weapons.The Southeast Asian country will “promote defense cooperation” abroad to handle mutual security challenges, the Ministry of National Defense paper released in November says.As conditions are right, the English-language paper says, “Vietnam will consider developing necessary, appropriate defense and military relations with other countries … for mutual benefits and common interests of the region and international community.”ASEAN defense ministers and dialogue nations defenses ministers, Russia’s deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, Singapore’s Ng Eng Hen, U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi in Bangkok, Nov. 18, 2019.The document stresses more defense cooperation among 10 Southeast Asian nations and calls settling differences with China a “long-term, difficult and complex process involving multiple countries and parties.” The two Asian neighbors, which have centuries of border disputes, now contest sovereignty over tracts of the South China Sea.The paper should signal more procurement of advanced weapons from countries such as Russia and joining more multinational defense exercises, analysts believe. One such event was the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc’s first maritime exercises with China’s chief rival, the United States, in September.“If we read between the lines, we can see the Vietnamese hinting at the possibility that they may deepen cooperation with other powers, but how far they can go they don’t say specifically in the paper,” said Nguyen Thanh Trung, Center for International Studies director at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in Ho Chi Minh City.Vietnam and ChinaBrunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam contest all or parts of the 3.5-million-square-kilometer South China Sea. They value the waterway, which stretches from Taiwan west to Singapore, for its fisheries and energy reserves.China has taken a military and technological lead during the past decade by using landfill to build out small islets under its control. Some now support hangars and airstrips.Chinese maritime activity angers Vietnam especially because China controls the Paracel Islands, a 130-islet archipelago claimed by both sides. The two sides faced off in deadly sea battles in the 1970s and 1980s, fanning Vietnamese resentment, already strong from a two-war land border dispute.A Chinese energy survey ship sparked a standoff with Vietnam last year as it patrolled near an oil and gas block on the Vietnamese continental shelf, also within China’s maritime claim.The white paper dovetails with a 2018 Communist Party Central Committee resolution calling for becoming what domestic media outlet VnExpress International calls “a powerful maritime nation.”More joint exercisesThe paper, the first since 2009, follows from Vietnam’s gradual accumulation of 28 partnerships with foreign countries, some with a military dimension. India and Vietnam signed a deal in 2018 to step up defense cooperation, and Vietnamese military personnel already train at Australian defense institutions.The paper’s wording implies that Vietnamese officials feel confident they can join any future U.S. military exercises with ASEAN, Nguyen said. Vietnam will not engage one country to strike another, the white paper says, a pledge that precludes any treaty alliances, said Collin Koh, maritime security research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Foreign military bases are also considered unlikely.The white paper doesn’t rule out a tighter defense relationship with Washington, said Carl Thayer, emeritus professor with the University of New South Wales in Australia.“You might want to read it as a very nuanced way of ‘you push us too far, we’ll go closer to the U.S.’ but it’s not that explicit in there,” Thayer said, although when U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper visited Vietnam in November, he talked up what the U.S. Embassy called a “defense partnership.”U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper speaks at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam in Hanoi, Vietnam, Nov. 20, 2019.Arms salesForeign defense cooperation may augur more deals to buy arms from Russia, India and eventually the United States, analysts believe.In 2018 the country signed a deal to order more than $1 billion from its long-time submarine and aircraft supplier Russia. Two years earlier, India extended $500 million in credit for any military purchases. China, also a political rival of India, protested that idea.Trump administration officials have explored selling weapons to Vietnam. In 2018 the U.S. State Department indicated it wanted to Vietnam to buy more weapons from the United States despite price tags that the country might find hard to pay, military news outlet DefensenNews reported. Four years ago Washington lifted an embargo on lethal arms sales to Vietnam, ending a remnant from U.S. Vietnam War.The white paper doesn’t mention specific defense expenditures, nor does it bore down into details of Vietnam’s disputes with China or name the fellow communist government as a target.“I think in a way this white paper is trying to strike a balance between the need to send a signal and yet at the same time trying not to appear too provocative toward certain parties,” Koh said.
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Australia Prepares for Controversial National Day
Australia commemorates its national day on Sunday (Jan 26). It is a time of mixed feelings. Many indigenous Australians believe the arrival of British settlers more than 230 years ago was an invasion, and insist it is hurtful to celebrate the dispossession of their land. But for millions of people, Australia Day is a time of great pride.To many indigenous people, January 26, 1788, was the day when their land was taken by the British, led by Captain Arthur Phillip. He was the commander of the First Fleet of 11 British ships, which arrived at Sydney Cove to signal the birth of the colony.Across the country, Australia Day harbors so many emotions: anger, sadness, pride and celebration. There will be so-called Invasion Day rallies, and well as festivities and parties.The government body that organizes various community events, the Australia Day Council, said, “The highs and lows of history are commemorated.”Wesley Enoch, an indigenous artistic director, believes it’s a time of a great complexity.“The Australia Day Council has used now this three-word slogan where they say ‘reflect, respect and celebrate,’ where they are now saying there are three different functions for that day, which I find to be more coherent with the way I am thinking about the 26th January,” said Enoch.Australia is the only country in the Commonwealth, a grouping of former British colonies, that does not have a treaty with its indigenous peoples.Dr. Jackie Huggins, an aboriginal leader in Queensland, believes a formal agreement would help the nation move on from the pain of colonization.“Truth-telling is about us all having a say in what has happened to our families, to our communities, to the very people who we are today in terms of the history, the dispossession, the massacres,” she said. “You know, the unpalatable truths of telling history. So that is really important. Our people felt that is a necessary, a vital component in terms of moving on.”While Australia Day acknowledges the birth of a modern nation as a British penal colony in 1788, it also reflects on more than 60,000 years of aboriginal history.There are calls for Australia to change the date of its national day because of indigenous sensitivities, but the government says it will remain on January 26.
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Coronavirus Outbreak Raises Health, Economic Concerns in Asia
Southeast Asia’s proximity to China and dependence on that nation for a major share of its economy is raising concerns that the coronavirus outbreak that started there will not only have health impacts but harm the region’s economies.The outbreak, which has so far caused 41 deaths in China, and caused the country to quarantine 16 cities, is causing comparisons to the 2003 spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, which decreased the value of the global economy by $40 billion.“Now that the Wuhan coronavirus has been found to be able to be transmitted from human to human, the economic consequences could be extremely concerning for the Asia-Pacific region,” Rajiv Biswas, IHS Markit Asia Pacific chief economist, said.“Sectors of the economy that are particularly vulnerable to a SARS-like virus epidemic that can be spread by human-to-human transmission are retail stores, restaurants, conferences, sporting events, tourism and commercial aviation,” he said.Observers agree that tourism could be one of the hardest-hit industries, in part because of the millions of Chinese who usually travel now, during the Lunar New Year, and in part because China has grown so much in the last two decades that many neighboring nations depend on it for tourism.That is only one of the economic differences between China today and the China of the SARS virus in 2003.China has since then become a member of the World Trade Organization and the second-biggest economy in the world. Its supply chain has become more integrated with the rest of the world than it has ever been, and it has become the biggest trading partner for many countries in the region.The 2003 virus decreased China’s economic growth rate, but its effect was the same for Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, Biswas said.This time around Chinese tourism matters even more to Southeast Asia.After Hong Kong, nations for which Chinese visitors’ spending accounts for the biggest share of gross domestic product are, from most to least, Cambodia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia, according to statistics released by Capital Economics, a London-based research company, Friday. In many of these nations, businesses catering to tourists display signs in Chinese, accept China’s yuan currency, and use that country’s WeChat for mobile payments.Major tourism events in the region add to the threat that the virus and its economic impact will spread, such as the Tokyo Summer Olympics, Biswas said. Vietnam will also host the Vietnam Grand Prix Formula One race this year, while Malaysia will host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.Singapore is an island nation that depends heavily on foreign trade, including to facilitate trade and investment in China. Selena Ling, head of treasury research and strategy at Singapore’s OCBC Bank, said Friday she was expecting Singapore’s economy to stage a modest recovery from 2019, but that may change.She said “the recent coronavirus outbreak originating from China to other countries including Singapore may impart some uncertainty to near-term business and consumer sentiments.”That could mean slower growth in the first quarter of 2020, she said.
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China Reports 15 More Deaths From Coronavirus, Bringing Toll to 41
China is reporting another 15 deaths from the coronavirus, bringing the toll from the disease to 41, and an additional 180 people sickened in central Hubei province.The new figures, announced by officials in Hubei province, brought the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus to more than 1,000.The development came as France announced three cases of the virus, marking the first confirmed diagnoses in Europe.French health officials said Friday that two of the cases involved patients who had recently traveled from China, while the third person was a relative of one of the initial patients.Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner, Chicago Department of Public Health, speaks at a news conference, Jan. 24, 2020, in Chicago. A Chicago woman has become the second U.S. patient diagnosed with the dangerous new virus from China.Second US caseAlso Friday, U.S. health officials reported a second patient infected with the virus, a woman from Chicago, Illinois, who returned January 13 from Wuhan, where the epidemic is believed to have started.The woman, who is in her 60s, reportedly is doing well but is hospitalized “primarily for infection control,” said Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago’s public health commissioner.People who had close contact with the woman were being monitored.The U.S. announced its first case Tuesday in the northwestern state of Washington. Health officials there said a man who returned to Seattle from Wuhan last week was hospitalized in good condition, but had pneumonia.Medical authorities say it’s likely additional cases will be identified in the near term because the virus apparently has a two-week incubation period.Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, talks to reporters before the start of a closed all-senators briefing on the coronavirus on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 24, 2020.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said more than 2,000 travelers returning to U.S. soil had been screened at U.S. airports, and 63 patients in 22 states were being tested. Of those being tested, 11 thus far have been found to be free of the virus.The Pentagon said Friday that it had no indication “of outbreaks that would affect our personnel.” However, Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Hoffman said U.S. base commanders were monitoring the situation “particularly in the Indo-Pacific region” and “have the authority to take additional action if they need to.”A police officer checks the temperature of a driver at a highway in Wuhan, in China’s central Hubei province, Jan. 24, 2020.Cities locked down, Disney closesThe Chinese government isolated more cities Friday, an unprecedented move to contain the coronavirus, which has spread to other countries.At least 10 cities, and a total of at least 33 million people, have been put on lockdown — Wuhan, Huanggang, Ezhou, Chibi, Qianjiang, Zhijiang, Jingmen, Xiantao, Xiaogan and Huangshi, all in Hubei province — on the eve of the Lunar New Year, when millions of Chinese traditionally travel.Shanghai Disney Resort announced on its website that it is temporarily closing Shanghai Disneyland, a major tourist attraction during Lunar New Year, “in response to the prevention and control of the disease outbreak and in order to ensure the health and safety” of guests and cast.The municipal authorities of Wuhan said Friday that the city was building a new 1,000-bed hospital, expected to be completed by February 3.On Thursday, authorities banned planes and trains from leaving Wuhan. Toll roads were closed, and ferry, subway and bus services were also suspended.Wuhan authorities have demanded that all residents wear masks in public and urged government and private sector employees to wear them in the workplace, according to the Xinhua news agency, which cited a government official.Similar measures were taken hours later in the nearby cities of Huanggang and Ezhou.The government also canceled holiday events in Beijing that usually attract large crowds.Fifteen medical workers are among those who have been infected by the virus, which has spread from Wuhan to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong province. Most of the cases have been in China, but cases have also been reported in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Nepal, France and the United States.US working on vaccineScientists at the U.S. Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, are working on developing a vaccine for the coronavirus.“It will take at least three months to complete the first phase of development,” said Dr. Lily Dai, a researcher at the institute. She spoke with VOA’s Mandarin service as an individual scientist, not as an NIH representative.Dai said that after the first phase of development, researchers will test the vaccine on people for another three months to determine if it is safe.Forest Cong of VOA’s Mandarin service contributed to this report.
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More Airports Screening Passengers Amid China Virus Outbreak
More airports are beginning to screen passengers arriving from China amid growing concerns Friday over the outbreak of a new virus there that has already killed more than two dozen people and sickened hundreds.
The energy-rich Gulf Arab nation of Qatar, home to long-haul carrier Qatar Airways, said it had installed thermal scanners at its main hub, Hamad International Airport.
Kuwait announced similar measures late the night before at Kuwait International Airport, joining the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, which on Thursday announced screenings for all passengers arriving on direct flights from China, including at Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest.
Kuwait’s state-run news agency said isolation rooms had also been opened at Kuwait International Airport for passengers suspected to have the virus.
Elsewhere in the region, Bahrain said it was taking unspecified steps over the virus.
China has shut down Wuhan and other cities in the Hubei province, which is the center of the outbreak of the newly identified coronavirus.
A scattered number of cases have been confirmed in other countries, but their are fears that during the travel and festivities accompanying Lunar New Year starting this weekend the virus could spread more widely.
The U.S. State Department on Thursday pulled all non-emergency American personnel and their family out of the province, and issued a travel warning urging people not to visit Hubei.
In Pakistan the Civil Aviation Authority said Friday all passengers coming from neighboring China will be screened for the virus, and any suspected of being infected will be kept in isolation at designated hospitals.
Officials say the number of Chinese nationals travelling between Pakistan and China have seen a considerable increase in recent years because of Beijing’s billions of dollars investment in infrastructure development projects.
As many as 41 flights from China land at Pakistani airports every week.
In Afghanistan, which shares a border with both Pakistan and China, Health Ministry spokesman Nezamuddin Jalil said authorities are concerned about the virus but so far had no reports of any suspected cases and had not instituted any additional airport screening measures.
Africa’s busiest hub, Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has also started screening passengers from China, according to health officials.
In addition, two hospitals in the capital are being prepared for any emergency cases. Ethiopia is home to Africa’s largest airline, Ethiopian Airlines, which transports hundreds of passengers every day between China and the East African nation.
In Cairo, airport authorities launched a program to train airport staff and airline crews on handling passengers arriving from China who might be affected by the new virus. Lectures have been held and pamphlets with details about the symptoms are being handed out, added airport officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures.
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China Building a Hospital to Treat Virus, Expands Lockdowns
China is swiftly building a 1,000-bed hospital dedicated to patients infected with a new virus that has killed 26 people, sickened hundreds and prompted unprecedented lockdowns of cities during the country’s most important holiday.
On the eve of the Lunar New Year, transportation was shut down Friday in at least 10 cities with a total of about 33 million people. The cities are Wuhan, where the illness has been concentrated, and nine of its neighbors in central China’s Hubei province.
“To address the insufficiency of existing medical resources,” Wuhan authorities said in a Friday notice, the city is constructing a hospital modeled after the Xiaotangshan SARS hospital in Beijing. The facility will be a prefabricated structure on a 25,000- square-meter (270,000-square-foot) lot, slated for completion Feb. 3.
The SARS hospital was built from scratch in 2003 in just six days to treat an outbreak of a similar respiratory virus that had spread from China to more than a dozen countries and killed about 800 people. The hospital featured individual isolation units that looked like rows of tiny cabins.
Normally bustling streets, malls and other public spaces were eerily quiet in Wuhan on the second day of its lockdown. Masks were mandatory in public, and images from the city showed empty shelves as people stocked up for what could be an extended isolation. Train stations, the airport and subways were closed; police checked incoming vehicles but did not entirely close off roads.
Hospitals in Wuhan were grappling with a flood of patients and a lack of supplies. Videos circulating online showed throngs of frantic people in masks lined up for checks. Some users on Weibo said their family members had sought diagnoses but were turned away at hospitals that were at capacity.
At least eight hospitals in Wuhan issued public calls for donations of masks, googles, gowns and other protective medical gear, according to notices online. Administrators at Wuhan University People’s Hospital set up a group chat on the popular WeChat messaging app to coordinate donations.
The “Fever Control Command Center” of the city of Huanggang also put out a call for donations publicized by the state-run People’s Daily, asking for medical supplies, medicine and disinfection equipment. The notice added that at the moment they wouldn’t accept supplies from foreign countries.
Authorities were taking precautions around the country. In the capital, Beijing, major public events were canceled, including traditional temple fairs that are a staple of Lunar New Year celebrations. Beijing’s Forbidden City, Shanghai Disneyland and a slew of other tourist attractions have been closed indefinitely.
The number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus has risen to 830, the National Health Commission said. Twenty-six people have died, including the first two deaths outside Hubei and the youngest recorded victim.At least 17 people have died from a new coronavirus in China following an outbreak in the central city of Wuhan, and some 577 cases have been reported globally, most of them in China where the infection has spread faster in recent days.The health commission in Hebei, a northern province bordering Beijing, said an 80-year-old man died there after returning from a two-month stay in Wuhan to see relatives. Heilongjiang province in the northeast confirmed a death there but did not give details.
While the majority of deaths have been older patients, a 36-year-old man in Hubei was admitted to the hospital earlier this month after suffering from fever for three days. He died following a sudden cardiac arrest on Jan. 23.
Initial symptoms of the virus can mirror those of the cold and flu, including cough, fever, chest tightening and shortness of breath, but can worsen to pneumonia. The coronavirus family includes the common cold as well as viruses that cause more serious illnesses, such as SARS and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome, or MERS, which is thought to have originated from camels. The Wuhan outbreak is suspected to have begun from wild animals sold at a food market in the city. The market is closed for investigation.
The vast majority of cases have been in and around Wuhan, but people who visited or had personal connections to infected people were among the scattered cases counted beyond the mainland. South Korea and Japan both confirmed their second cases Friday and Singapore confirmed its third. Cases have been detected in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, the United States, Thailand and Vietnam.
Many countries are screening travelers from China and isolating anyone with symptoms.
The World Health Organization decided against declaring the outbreak a global emergency for now. The declaration can increase resources to fight a threat but its potential to cause economic damage makes the decision politically fraught.
Chinese officials have not said how long the shutdowns of the cities will last. While sweeping measures are typical of China’s Communist Party-led government, large-scale quarantines are rare around the world, even in deadly epidemics, because of concerns about infringing on people’s liberties.Passengers wear face masks as they wait for a train at a subway station in Beijing, Jan. 24, 2020.Recalling the government’s initial cover-up of SARS, many Chinese are suspicious of the case numbers reported by officials. Authorities in turn have been keen to pledge transparency. China’s cabinet, the State Council, announced Friday that it will be collecting information on government departments that have failed in their response to the new outbreak, including “delays, concealment and under-reporting of the epidemic.”
Across China, a slew of cancellations and closures dampened the usual liveliness of Lunar New Year.
One Beijing subway station near a transport hub conducted temperature checks at its security checkpoint Friday. Some security personnel were clad in full-body hazardous material suits.
Schools prolonged their winter break and were ordered by the Ministry of Education to not hold any mass gatherings or exams. Transport departments will also be waiving fees and providing refunds for ticket cancellations.
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