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In Southeast Asia, Governments Exploit Coronavirus Fears To Tighten Grip
8May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Asia

In Southeast Asia, Governments Exploit Coronavirus Fears To Tighten Grip

Three Southeast Asian nations — Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar — are using fears over the coronavirus to double down on repressive measures aimed at silencing critics or opponents. In Thailand, general-turned-prime minister Prayuth Chan-ocha declared a state of emergency on March 26, granting him broad powers to protect the "safety of the people." It allows him to confine people to their homes, prohibits public assembly and includes additional powers of arrest and search and seizure. The most public examples of its use so far are a limited lockdown in Bangkok and a nationwide curfew that begins today. The curfew will be in effect each night from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Thailand's restrictions extend to the news media. They are prohibited from sharing "any kind of news or information re
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China’s Mars mission named Tianwen-1, appears on track for July launch
8May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
China

China’s Mars mission named Tianwen-1, appears on track for July launch

HELSINKI — China has named its first independent interplanetary mission Tianwen-1, with the combined Mars orbiter and rover spacecraft apparently proceeding towards launch in July. The name and mission logo were unveiled at a China National Space Administration online ceremony to mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of the country’s first satellite. DFH-1 launched on a Long March 1 rocket from Jiuquan April 24, 1970, making China the fifth country to independently launch a satellite. Tianwen-1, meaning ‘questions to heaven’, is taken from the name of a long-form poem by Qu Yuan, a poet born in the fourth century B.C., according to CNSA chief engineer Ge Xiaochun. The ‘Lanxingjiutian’ logo includes representations of the Latin letter ‘c’, referring to China, cooperation, and th
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Complaints of racism mar China’s coronavirus response
8May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Business, Conflict

Complaints of racism mar China’s coronavirus response

Race-based COVID-19 containment measures in Guangzhou evolve into major test of China-Africa relations. Lewis was at the hospital where he interns when he saw videos on social media of a black man being chased in the street by police. When the 23-year-old medical student from Sierra Leone checked his phone, he had missed calls and messages from friends in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou who had also seen the video, and there was a notice online in Chinese saying that Africans were "importing" the virus and needed to be quarantined. Then, local authorities came to the hospital where Lewis (who asked that his name be changed for fear of reprisals) worked and told him he needed to quarantine, too. They showed him a government notice that said if he had returned to China that ...
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U.S. Views of China Increasingly Negative Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
8May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Conflict, World

U.S. Views of China Increasingly Negative Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

Republicans more negative than Democrats toward China, though unfavorable ratings have climbed among both parties Since President Donald Trump took office in 2017, his approach to U.S.-China relations has included increased pressure via tariffs and trade war rhetoric, and now, with the onset of an unprecedented pandemic, the stage has been set for both sides to cast aspersions on the other. Against this backdrop, negative views of China have continued to grow, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of Americans conducted in March. Roughly two-thirds now say they have an unfavorable view of China, the most negative rating for the country since the Center began asking the question in 2005, and up nearly 20 percentage points since the start of the Trump administration. Positive vie...
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Coronavirus: Myanmar ships 800 freed Rohingya prisoners back to Rakhine
8May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Asia

Coronavirus: Myanmar ships 800 freed Rohingya prisoners back to Rakhine

SITTWE, MYANMAR (AFP) - Myanmar shipped hundreds of recently released Rohingya inmates back to the country's restive western borderlands on Monday (April 20), after fears that its overcrowded prisons could become hotbeds for runaway coronavirus outbreaks. Men, women and children belonging to the stateless and long-persecuted Muslim minority were among nearly 25,000 prisoners freed last week by a presidential pardon to mark the country's April New Year celebrations. A Navy vessel transported the group from Yangon to Rakhine state, where most Rohingya live under tight movement restrictions and in conditions Amnesty International has condemned as "apartheid". More than 600 disembarked near state capital Sittwe, while another 200 were taken further north to townships on the border wi...
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China coronavirus cases may have been four times official figure, says study
8May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Business, China, Conflict

China coronavirus cases may have been four times official figure, says study

China coronavirus cases may have been four times official figure, says studyNew estimates from Hong Kong come amid call for inquiry into outbreak’s origins More than 232,000 people may have been infected in the first wave of Covid-19 in mainland China, four times the official figures, according to a study by Hong Kong researchers. China reported more than 55,000 cases as of 20 February but, according to research by academics at Hong Kong University’s school of public health, published in the Lancet, the true number would have been far greater if the definition of a Covid-19 case that was later used had been applied from the outset. China has now reported more than 83,000 cases. Globally, the death toll from the coronavirus has exceeded 184,000, with the number of cases worldwide
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Coronavirus: India cancels order for ‘faulty’ China rapid test kits
8May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Politics

Coronavirus: India cancels order for ‘faulty’ China rapid test kits

India has cancelled orders for about half a million coronavirus rapid testing kits from China after they were found to be "faulty". Delhi has also withdrawn the kits that were already in use in several states. The kits take around 30 minutes to deliver a result and are supposed to detect antibodies in the blood of people who may have had the infection. They help officials quickly understand the scale of infection in a particular area. China disputes India's claims. "The quality of medical products exported from China is prioritised. It is unfair and irresponsible for certain individuals to label Chinese products as 'faulty' and look at issues with pre-emptive prejudice," Chinese embassy spokesperson Ji Rong said in a statement issued on Tuesday. The rapid testing kits canno...
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Amid Pandemic, UK-Vietnam Cooperation Continues to Deepen
2May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Asia, Business

Amid Pandemic, UK-Vietnam Cooperation Continues to Deepen

A closer look at recent developments between the two countries, both before and during the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, two Vietnamese children donated 20,000 facemasks to help the United Kingdom fight the coronavirus pandemic. The British Embassy staff in Hanoi sent the masks, along with 100 stranded British nationals, on a commercial flight back to the UK. With the growing number of deaths in the UK and shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers, these gifts are valuable; they further underscore strengthened relations between the UK and Vietnam. As covered at The Diplomat previously, since 2010 the relationship between Vietnam and the United Kingdom has been elevated to a strategic partnership. Tran Ngoc An, Vietnam’s Ambassador to the UK, has strongly
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Magnitude 5.0 earthquake shakes eastern Indonesia
2May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Asia

Magnitude 5.0 earthquake shakes eastern Indonesia

JAKARTA A magnitude 5.0 earthquake jolted Indonesia's North Sulawesi province Thursday, according to the Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics (BMKG). BMKG said the earthquake’s epicenter was 66 kilometers (41 miles) northeast of Melonguane district in the Talaud Islands. The quake occurred 21 kilometers (13 miles) below the surface, it added. There were no immediate reports of casualties, said officials.
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Feeding zoo animals may put NH woman behind bars in Thailand
2May By Our NewsroomNo Comments
Asia, Conflict, Opinion, World

Feeding zoo animals may put NH woman behind bars in Thailand

A Chester mother says her daughter faces up to five years in prison in Thailand after she and three others were arrested trying to feed zoo animals they thought were abandoned. “I am hoping that the U.S. officials can help in any way that they have the ability to do so,” said Marie Somers, who has contacted the offices of U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen and U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas. Joy Somers, 33, who grew up in Sandown, was charged with a computer crime for posting a video of Phuket Zoo’s conditions on Facebook. Joy Somers said she stumbled across the zoo on April 14 during a walk with friends. Somers, who has lived in Phuket for more than four years and is a CrossFit coach and nutritional counselor, said she lives behind the zoo and heard animals crying over the past month. “We walk
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