Author: Our Newsroom

Coronavirus: China investing millions in WHO to make up for Trump cuts and boost its influence, officials say
20May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Business, Conflict, World

Coronavirus: China investing millions in WHO to make up for Trump cuts and boost its influence, officials say

  China's President Xi Jinping (L) speaks next to US President Donald Trump during a business leaders event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 9, 2017. Donald Trump urged Chinese leader Xi Jinping to work "hard" and act fast to help resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis, during their meeting in Beijing on November 9, warning that "time is quickly running out" China has pledged to invest millions of additional dollars into the World Health Organisation (WHO) after Donald Trump announced he was cutting off US funding for the group while reviewing its handling of the coronavirus outbreak.   Beijing said it would contribute an additional $30m as the United Nations organisation battles the Covid-19 pandemic, with Chinese Foreign Ministry ...
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China sent team including medical experts to advise on North Korea’s Kim
20May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
China, World

China sent team including medical experts to advise on North Korea’s Kim

China has dispatched a team to North Korea including medical experts to advise on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to three people familiar with the situation. The trip by the Chinese doctors and officials comes amid conflicting reports about the health of the North Korean leader. Reuters was unable to immediately determine what the trip by the Chinese team signaled in terms of Kim’s health. A delegation led by a senior member of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Liaison Department left Beijing for North Korea on Thursday, two of the people said. The department is the main Chinese body dealing with neighbouring North Korea The sources declined to be identified given the sensitivity of the matter. The Liaison Department could not be reached by Reuters for comment late on
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For China’s aggressive new diplomacy, coronavirus is both a crisis and an opportunity
20May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
China, World

For China’s aggressive new diplomacy, coronavirus is both a crisis and an opportunity

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, China has struggled to control the narrative around its role in the crisis. Is Beijing a noble victim, ably controlling an unforeseeable viral outbreak and now assisting other countries in their own efforts, or the villain, ultimately to blame for the misery spreading around the world?Considerable effort has been expended in pushing the first line. China has donated large amounts of medical supplies to parts of Europe and Africa. China's state media, which has an outsized influence in much of the developing world, has also played up praise from the World Health Organization (WHO) and others of its response to and recovery from the initial outbreak, in stark contrast to many parts of the world now struggling to cope.The coronavirus crisis pre
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Responding to COVID-19 in Southeast Asia
20May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Asia, World

Responding to COVID-19 in Southeast Asia

Countries in Southeast Asia have mobilized a wide range of responses to the COVID-19 pandemic—with some better-prepared than others. Without a swift response, countries in the region risk a severe outbreak, especially among the more vulnerable refugees and internally displaced persons. The U.S. should examine its current aid portfolios—especially for poorer countries in the region—and consider whether it can offer additional assistance to its friends in Southeast Asia. It should also seek to safeguard liberty in the midst of a crisis that some countries could see as a carte blanche to expand government power. Southeast Asia has a broad spectrum of responses to the coronavirus, from the well-prepared in Singapore to the woefully inadequate in Cambodia. The U.S. should examine its current ai
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Almost 1,000 Malaysian students still stranded in Indonesia
20May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Asia

Almost 1,000 Malaysian students still stranded in Indonesia

The Malaysian Embassy here is closely monitoring Malaysian students still stranded in the republic, with the assistance of the National Association of Malaysian Students in Indonesia (PKPMI) and local authorities. It said 989 students are still in the neighbouring country, as they are still attending classes or in the midst of settling their student visa. So far, 2,799 Malaysian students in Indonesia have returned since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Malaysia’s Ambassador to Indonesia, Datuk Zainal Abidin Bakar, said the embassy and Education Malaysia in Indonesia (EMI) are always in contact through video conferencing with PKPMI representatives all over Indonesia to obtain the latest information on their condition. “We also told them to comply with the order of the authorities, to
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Tribes along India-Myanmar border dream of a ‘united Nagaland’
20May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Asia, Business, Politics, World

Tribes along India-Myanmar border dream of a ‘united Nagaland’

Dozens of Naga tribes yearn to reunite the 3 million living in India with their 400,000 estranged cousins in Myanmar.The king of the Konyak tribe sleeps in Myanmar, but eats in India - his house, village and people divided by a mountain border which serves as a vulnerable lifeline now severed by a coronavirus lockdown. The Konyak are just one of dozens of Naga tribes, a people yearning to reunite the 3 million living in India with their 400,000 estranged - and much poorer - cousins in Myanmar's isolated far north.Many from Myanmar cross the border to attend school, sell vegetables or visit a hospital, as it is a days-long journey by foot to the nearest town in Myanmar. Even in normal times, they live at the mercy of Indian soldiers guarding checkpoints against the threat of armed groups fi
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Millions of people in Indonesia could be at risk
20May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Business, World

Millions of people in Indonesia could be at risk

Some parts of Indonesia that do not have early warning systems in place for earthquakes could be at increased risk of tsunamis, according to a new study.    Analysis of more than 2.5million years' worth of geological data revealed 19 enormous ancient underwater landslides around the island nation.  The submarine landslides happened, on average, once every 160,000 years.   Should one of these events happen in the modern world, the most at-risk locations would be the cities of Balikpapan and Samarinda, with a combined population of over 1.6 million people. Researchers say the proposed new capital city of Indonesia at Balikpapan Bay would also be heavily affected.  The research team, led by Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, said the findings suggest coastal communities in the country witho
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COVID-19: Could food security in Southeast Asia be in jeopardy?
20May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Asia, World

COVID-19: Could food security in Southeast Asia be in jeopardy?

Countries and cities across Southeast Asia have been on different versions of lockdown for over a month, with heightened border restrictions and controls on the movement of labor. Last month, the Global Food Security Index (GFSI) 2019 Asia Pacific regional report was released. It revealed the state of food security systems in the region by measuring the three core pillars of food security: affordability, availability, and quality and safety. The GFSI was developed by The Economist Intelligence Unit providing a common framework for understanding the root causes of food insecurity. For the second consecutive year, Singapore maintained its position as the most food secure country in Asia Pacific, and globally. However, the report showed significant disparity in food security across the region
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Virus Surge in Southeast Asia Migrant Workers Serves as Warning
20May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Politics, Singapore, World

Virus Surge in Southeast Asia Migrant Workers Serves as Warning

Virus flareups among migrant workers are fueling a second wave of infections in Southeast Asia, forcing governments to shift direction to contain resurgent outbreaks, and serving as a warning to other countries looking to ease restrictions as cases ease. Singapore and Thailand have been caught out by infections among foreign workers, who come from other parts of the region to work on building sites, in low-wage industries and as domestic labor. The countries are now scaling up testing of these communities, with the cramped dormitory-style or temporary accommodation they’re often housed in leaving them vulnerable to infection from the highly contagious coronavirus. An explosion in cases among Singapore’s 1-million strong migrant worker population has seen it become Asia’s most-infected nati
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China Tensions in Southeast Asia Flare Online
20May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Asia

China Tensions in Southeast Asia Flare Online

Social media anger from Chinese nationalists over a Thai internet model's comments on the coronavirus has set off a storm, uniting pro-democracy campaigners against pro-Beijing cyber-warriors, with insults and mocking memes flying. The quarrel, which has seen Southeast Asian internet users join forces with those in Taiwan and Hong Kong, has highlighted old tensions between China and its smaller neighbors fanned by the emergence of the new coronavirus. Political analysts and activists said the online row, which started at the weekend, was unique in volume and regional spread at a time when ever more of life has been forced online. "This is the first transnational geopolitical Twitter war Thais have engaged in," said Prajak Kongkirati of Bangkok's Thammasat University. "We see people questio
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