A British-led aircraft carrier group voyage that will take the HMS Queen Elizabeth to the disputed South China Sea would push Beijing further into an angry defensive position, analysts believe.The 65,000-ton aircraft carrier with more than 30 aircraft plans to visit the Asian waterway for military drills with the U.S. Navy and Japanese Maritime Self Defense Forces, British media outlets say. The ships set sail in May for a world journey of seven months, the Royal Navy said on its website without specifying when it would reach the South China Sea. A Dutch frigate and an American destroyer have joined the group.China will see the voyage as a sign that Western allies are marshaling forces against it, experts say. Chinese officials claim 90% of the sea as China’s, citing historic usage records. Militarily weaker Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam claim all or parts of the same sea, overlapping Chinese claimed waters.As China builds up islands in the 3.5 million-square-kilometer, resource-rich sea for military installations and expands its navy, Western countries have been sending ships over the past half year as a warning against that expansion and a gesture of support for the smaller claimants.French, British Ships to Sail Disputed Asian Sea, Rile China

        British and French warships will sail to the disputed South China Sea in a display of naval strength that may satisfy domestic audiences but ruffle the waterway’s major stakeholder, China, and lead to more militarization, analysts say.Vessels from the two European naval powers, which have no South China Sea claims of their own, will use the event to justify military spending at home, experts say. 

“I think the Chinese will be upset,” said Stephen Nagy, senior associate professor of politics and international studies at International Christian University in Tokyo. Chinese officials will say the voyage reflects a “Cold War mentality” and a “containment mentality” aimed at China, he said.“It will reaffirm their view that the United States is now clearly intent on stopping China’s rise and preventing China’s development, but the reality is the U.K. has limited resources it can lend to the region and it’s more symbolic than a tangible increase,” he said.US Adding Air Power to Naval Operations in Disputed South China Sea Beijing is watching as Washington reportedly sends B-52s, reconnaissance aircraft and at least one Marine Corps plane to a sea China claims as its own China regularly protests U.S. Navy voyages into the sea, 10 of which took place last year following another 10 in 2019. China sometimes follows up with military drills. The U.K. and the United States are close allies.The Beijing government cannot “forget” that Britain once colonized parts of China, including Hong Kong, said Chen Yi-fan, assistant diplomacy and international relations professor at Tamkang University in Taiwan.China’s reaction to the voyage will hinge on time the U.K. spends in the sea, said Andrew Yang, secretary-general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies think tank in Taiwan.“It really depends on the U.K.’s efforts, whether it can actually present itself in the region on a regular basis,” Yang said.Welcomed in Southeast AsiaSoutheast Asian maritime claimants will welcome the British voyage, though careful to spin their support in a way to avoid upsetting China, said Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. Much of Southeast Asia counts China as a top trading partner. Malaysia and Singapore, as former British colonies, though, have particularly strong ties to the U.K., Oh said.“I think we have the same attitude as the British, namely we don’t want to unduly upset China because, whether we like it or not, China is our largest trading partner,” said Oh, who is Malaysian. “But at the same time, it is important to also show to Chinese that we are not retreating from our claims of sovereignty.” Power projectionBritish officials for their part hope to “project strong relations” around maritime Asia following their break from the European Union, Nagy said. He tips the country to work more closely in the future with Japan and the United States on Indo-Pacific issues where they disagree with China.The HMS Queen Elizabeth group will visit 40 nations, including Japan, over its course of 48,152 kilometers, according to a Royal Navy statement on May 22.U.K. Carrier Strike Group Commander, Commodore Steve Moorhouse, called the voyage the “most important peacetime deployment in a generation,” according to the navy’s statement.
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Tokyo is donating more than 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines to Taiwan, Japan’s foreign minister announced Friday, as Taipei struggles to secure jabs, accusing China of interference.The move is likely to stir controversy with Beijing, which views democratic and self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and works to keep the island diplomatically isolated.”We have received requests from various countries and areas for the provision of vaccines,” Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters in Tokyo.”At this point, we have finished the arrangement for the request from Taiwan. And we will deliver free of charge 1.24 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines that have been produced in Japan,” he added.He said the vaccine would be handled through the territory’s embassy equivalent and would arrive in Taiwan shortly.In a statement, Taiwan’s foreign ministry welcomed the move, pointedly emphasizing that the neighbors “share the universal values of freedom and democracy.”It comes as Taiwan battles a sudden surge of cases after having one of the world’s best pandemic responses.Infections have jumped in recent weeks to nearly 10,000 with 166 deaths after a cluster initially detected among airline pilots spread.Taiwan wants to roll out mass inoculations in the next few months by setting up thousands of community vaccination stations to administer 1 million shots weekly, but it is struggling to secure enough doses.It has pre-order deals for around 30 million shots but has so far received just 726,600 AstraZeneca doses and 150,000 Moderna shots for its population of 23.5 million.Taiwan is receiving doses through the Covax program and is included in plans outlined by Washington this week to distribute 80 million doses globally.But President Tsai Ing-wen has explicitly accused China of having “interfered” with efforts to secure Pfizer doses.Japan has secured AstraZeneca doses sufficient for its 60 million people, but is not administering the formula despite approving it, as concerns linger about rare blood clots.Instead, it is prioritizing administration of the Pfizer and Moderna formulas and has secured enough of both to potentially jettison its AstraZeneca stock.
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Friday marks the anniversary of China’s bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in and around central Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, when Chinese troops opened fire on their own people.The event remains a taboo topic of discussion in mainland China and will not be officially commemorated by the ruling Communist Party or government.Here are some landmark dates leading up to the demonstrations and the crackdown that followed:1988: China slides into economic chaos with panic buying triggered by rising inflation that neared 30%.April 15, 1989: A leading reformer and former Communist Party chief Hu Yaobang, dies. His death acts as a catalyst for unhappiness with the slow pace of reform, as well as corruption and income inequality.April 17: Protests begin at Tiananmen Square, with students calling for democracy and reform. Crowds of up to 100,000 gather, despite official warnings.April 22: Some 50,000 students gather outside the Great Hall of the People as Hu’s memorial service is held. Three students attempt to deliver a petition to the government, outlining their demands, but are ignored. Rioting and looting take place in Xian and Changsha.April 24: Beijing students begin classroom strike.April 27: Around 50,000 students defy authorities and march to Tiananmen. Supporting crowds number up to 1 million.May 2: In Shanghai, 10,000 protesters march on city government headquarters.May 4: Further mass protests coinciding with the anniversary of the May 4 Movement of 1919, which was another student and intellectual-led movement for reform. Protests coincide with meeting of Asian Development Bank in Great Hall of the People. Students march in Shanghai and nine other cities.May 13: Hundreds of students begin a hunger strike on Tiananmen Square.FILE – Students shout after breaking through a police blockade during a pro-democracy march to Tiananmen Square, Beijing, May 4, 1989.May 15-18: To China’s embarrassment, protests prevent traditional welcome ceremony outside the Great Hall of the People for the state visit of reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Students welcome Gorbachev as “The Ambassador of Democracy.”May 19: Party chief Zhao Ziyang visits students on Tiananmen Square, accompanied by the hardline then-premier Li Peng and future premier Wen Jiabao. Zhao pleads with the student protesters to leave but is ignored. It is the last time Zhao is seen in public. He is later purged.May 20: Li declares martial law in parts of Beijing. Reviled by many to this day as the “Butcher of Beijing,” Li remained premier until 1998.May 23: Some 100,000 people march in Beijing demanding Li’s removal.May 30: Students unveil the 10-meter-high “Goddess of Democracy,” modeled on the Statue of Liberty, in Tiananmen Square.FILE – Hundreds of thousands of people, seeking political and economic reforms, crowded Beijing’s central Tiananmen Square on May 17, 1989, in the biggest popular upheaval in China since the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s.May 31: Government-sponsored counter-demonstration calls students “traitorous bandits.”June 3: Citizens repel a charge towards Tiananmen by thousands of soldiers. Tear gas and bullets used in running clashes a few hundred meters from the square. Authorities warn protesters that troops and police have “right to use all methods.”June 4: In the early hours of the morning tanks and armored personnel carriers begin their attack on the square itself, clearing it by dawn. About four hours later, troops fire on unarmed civilians regrouping at the edge of the square.June 5: An unidentified Chinese man stands in front of a tank convoy leaving Tiananmen Square. The image spreads around the world as a symbol of defiance against the crackdown.June 6: Chinese State Council spokesperson Yuan Mu says on television that the known death toll was about 300, most of them soldiers, with only 23 students confirmed killed. China has never provided a full death toll, but rights groups and witnesses say the figure could run into the thousands.June 9: Paramount leader Deng Xiaoping praises military officers, and blames the protests on counter-revolutionaries seeking to overthrow the party.Sources: Reuters, Chinese state media  
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Thousands of Hong Kong police are expected to surround a central park and patrol the city’s streets on Friday to prevent people from gathering to commemorate the 1989 crackdown by Chinese troops in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.Critics say the heightened vigilance from authorities is a marked departure from Hong Kong’s cherished freedoms of speech and assembly, bringing the global financial hub closer in line with mainland China’s strict controls on society.The former British colony, promised a high degree of autonomy from Beijing upon its return to Chinese rule in 1997, has traditionally held the world’s largest vigil for the Tiananmen victims.Police have banned the vigil for a second year in a row, citing the coronavirus. It did not say whether commemorating Tiananmen would breach a sweeping national security law China imposed in 2020 to set its most restive city onto an authoritarian path.City leader Carrie Lam has not commented on commemorations, saying only that citizens must respect the law, as well as the Communist Party, which this year celebrates its 100th anniversary. June 4 commemorations are banned in mainland China.Last year, thousands in Hong Kong defied the ban, gathering in the downtown Victoria Park and lining up on sidewalks with lit candles across the city, in what was largely a solemn event, barring a brief scuffle with police in one district.Many plan to light candles again in their neighborhood, if safe to do so. Some churches will be open for prayers.Wong, a 60-year-old retiree who has been to more than 20 such vigils, said he will light a candle in a place other than Victoria Park.”The ban does not put out the candlelight in my heart,” said Wong, who only gave his last name due to the sensitivity.Prominent activist Joshua Wong was given a 10-month prison sentence last month after pleading guilty to participating in last year’s vigil, while three others got four- to six-month-sentences. Twenty more are due in court on June 11 on similar charges.Risking prisonPublic broadcaster RTHK, citing unnamed sources, reported police will have 7,000 officers on the streets on Friday, conducting stop-and-search operations throughout the day.Authorities have warned that taking part in unauthorized assemblies poses the risk of up to five years in prison, while “advertising or publicizing” illegal rallies may be punished by up to 12 months.The Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China, the organizer of the annual vigil, has said it would drop calls for people to show up at Victoria Park and not run an online commemoration as in 2020.Its chairman Lee Cheuk-yan is in jail over an illegal assembly.On Wednesday, Hong Kong’s June 4th Museum said it would temporarily close after officers from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said it did not have a public entertainment venue license.”For the past 32 years, during the existence of Hong Kong Alliance, we did nothing illegal to harm the country and Hong Kong,” Mak Hoi-wah, a founding member of the Alliance who has been helping run the museum recently in Lee’s absence, told Reuters this week.The gambling hub of Macau has also banned June 4 activities.In democratically ruled Taiwan, a memorial pavilion will be set up in Taipei’s Liberty Square, where people can lay down flowers while following social distancing rules. An LED installation of 64 lights will also be set up in the square.Taiwan called on China on Thursday to return power to the people rather than avoid facing up to the crackdown.China has never provided a full account of the 1989 violence. The death toll given by officials days later was about 300, most of them soldiers, but rights groups and witnesses say thousands of people may have perished.
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Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is putting on the biggest show of his career, and he is doing it in a place he’s fallen in love with: Portugal. The world-renowned visual artist’s new exhibition, “Rapture,” opens in the Portuguese capital Lisbon on Friday. Ai arrived in Portugal almost two years ago and says he has no plans to return to Germany or England, where he has also lived since leaving China in 2015. “I have a great feeling” about Portugal, the artist said Thursday. “This is a place I’m staying.” Ai’s show in São Paulo in 2018 covered twice the area of the Lisbon exhibit but had fewer works on display.  Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s work on display during a press preview of his new exhibition ‘Rapture’ in Lisbon, June 3, 2021.”Rapture” is being presented in a long, low, riverside building that housed Portugal’s national rope factory starting in the 18th century and now hosts temporary art exhibitions. Ai’s show runs until Nov. 28. The 85 pieces include some of Ai’s iconic works, as well as new ones produced exclusively in Portugal.  “Forever Bicycles,” from 2015, a giant sculpture using 960 stainless steel bicycles as building blocks, stands at the entrance to the building. Ai’s 16-meter-long (52-foot-long) black inflatable boat with human figures, which alludes to the migration crisis, is also in Lisbon, as are some other of his well-known installations, sculptures, videos and photographs. Ai notes, however, that most of the works “have never met each other” and are appearing in the same place for the first time. Ai was arrested at Beijing’s airport in April 2011 and held for 81 days without explanation during a wider crackdown on dissent. He moved to Europe after Chinese authorities returned his passport. He has traveled across Portugal visiting craftspeople and manufacturers who use traditional Portuguese methods and materials such as marble, textiles, hand-painted tiles and cork. Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei poses by one of his latest works, a giant toilet paper roll in marble, during a press preview of his new exhibition ‘Rapture’ in Lisbon, June 3, 2021.His experimentation has yielded a self-portrait sculpture in cork, a cut-out world map in fabric that stands about 1.5 meters (5 feet) high, a 40-meter-long (130-feet-long) rug, and a marble cylinder almost 2 meters (6.5 feet) high. Marcello Dantas, the show’s Brazilian curator, says that Ai arrived in Portugal for the first time in 2019 on a flight that landed at 8 a.m. By lunchtime, he had bought a house near the farming town of Montemor-o-Novo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Lisbon “I always make decisions by my personal instinct,” Ai said. “I feel comfortable here.” The artist ticks off what appeals to him about the country: the relatively slow pace of life, the “very open” people, the “very acceptable” food and the abundant sunshine. Ai says the limits on movement during the COVID-19 pandemic furnished him with “a most productive time.” Over the past year or so, he made three feature-length films in addition to art pieces. He has a book coming out later this year and another exhibition planned for this summer in the northern Portuguese city of Porto. Remaining in Portugal was “probably the best decision I ever made,” he says.  
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In the span of just five days last month, China gave out 100 million shots of its COVID-19 vaccines.After a slow start, China is now doing what virtually no other country in the world can: harnessing the power and all-encompassing reach of its one-party system and a maturing domestic vaccine industry to administer shots at a staggering pace. The rollout is far from perfect, including uneven distribution, but Chinese public health leaders now say they’re hoping to inoculate 80% of the population of 1.4 billion by the end of the year.As of Tuesday, China had given out more than 680 million doses — with nearly half of those in May alone. China’s total is roughly a third of the 1.9 billion shots distributed globally, according to Our World in Data, an online research site.The call to get vaccinated comes from every corner of society. Companies offer shots to their employees, schools urge their students and staffers, and local government workers check on their residents. That pressure underscores both the system’s strength, which makes it possible to even consider vaccinating more than a billion people this year, but also the risks to civil liberties — a concern the world over but one that is particularly acute in China, where there are few protections.“The Communist Party has people all the way down to every village, every neighborhood,” said Ray Yip, former country director for the Gates Foundation in China and a public health expert. “That’s the draconian part of the system, but it also gives very powerful mobilization.”China is now averaging about 19 million shots per day, according to Our World in Data’s rolling seven-day average. That would mean a dose for everyone in Italy about every three days. The United States, with about one-quarter of China’s population, reached around 3.4 million shots per day in April when its drive was at full tilt.It’s still unclear how many people in China are fully vaccinated — which can mean anywhere from one to three doses of the vaccines in use — as the government does not publicly release that data.Zhong Nanshan, the head of a group of experts attached to the National Health Commission and a prominent government doctor, said on Sunday that 40% of the population has received at least one dose, and the aim was to get that percentage fully vaccinated by the end of the month.In Beijing, the capital, 87% of the population has received at least one dose. Getting a shot is as easy as walking into one of hundreds of vaccination points found all across the city. Vaccination buses are parked in high foot-traffic areas, including in the city center and at malls.Residents line up outside a vaccination center in Beijing on June 2, 2021.But Beijing’s abundance is not shared with the rest of the country, and local media reports and complaints on social media show the difficulty of getting an appointment elsewhere.“I started lining up that day at 9 in the morning, until 6 p.m., only then did I get the shot. It was exhausting,” Zhou Hongxia, a resident of Lanzhou, in northwestern Gansu province, explained recently. “When I left, there were still people waiting.”Zhou’s husband hasn’t been so lucky and has yet to get a shot. When they call the local hotlines, they are told simply to wait.Central government officials on Monday said they’re working to ensure supply is more evenly distributed.Before the campaign ramped up in recent weeks, many people were not in a rush to get vaccinated as China has kept the virus, which first flared in the country, at bay in the past year with strict border controls and mandatory quarantines. It has faced small clusters of infections from time to time, and is currently managing one in the southern city of Guangzhou.Although there are distribution issues, it is unlikely that Chinese manufacturers will have problems with scale, according to analysts and those who have worked in the industry.Sinovac and Sinopharm, which make the majority of the vaccines being distributed in China, have both aggressively ramped up production, building brand new factories and repurposing existing ones for COVID-19. Sinovac’s vaccine and one of the two Sinpharm makes have received an emergency authorization for use from the World Health Organization, but the companies, particularly Sinopharm, have faced criticism for their lack of transparency in sharing their data.“What place in the world can compare with China on construction? How long did it take our temporary hospitals to be built?” asked Li Mengyuan, who leads pharmaceutical research at Western Securities, a financial firm. China built field hospitals at the beginning of the pandemic in just days.Security guards help masked residents to scan their health code as they line up to receive the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine at the Central Business District in Beijing, June 2, 2021.Sinovac has said it has doubled its production capacity to 2 billion doses a year, while Sinopharm has said it can make up to 3 billion doses a year. But Sinopharm has not disclosed recent numbers of how many doses it actually has made, and a spokesman for the company did not respond to a request for comment. Sinovac has produced 540 million doses this year as of late May, the company said on Friday.Government support has been crucial for vaccine developers every step of the way — as it has in other countries — but, as with everything, the scope and scale in China is different.Yang Xiaoming, chairman of Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group, recounted to state media recently how the company initially needed to borrow lab space from a government research center while it was working on a vaccine.“We sent our samples over, there was no need to discuss money, we just did it,” he said.Chinese vaccine companies also largely do not rely on imported products in the manufacturing process. That’s an enormous benefit at a time when many countries are scrambling for the same materials and means China can likely avoid what happened to the Serum Institute of India, whose production was hobbled because of dependence on imports from the U.S. for certain ingredients.But as the availability of the vaccine increases so, too, can the pressure to take it.In Beijing, one researcher at a university said the school’s Communist Party cell calls him once a month to ask him if he has gotten vaccinated yet and offers to help him make an appointment.He has so far declined to get a shot because he would prefer the Pfizer vaccine, saying he trusts its data. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of concerns he could face repercussions at his job at a government university for publicly questioning the Chinese vaccines.China has not yet approved Pfizer for use, and the researcher is not sure how long he can hold out — although the government has, for now, cautioned against making vaccines mandatory outright.“They don’t have to say it is mandatory,” Yip, the public health expert, said. “They’re not going to announce that it’s required to have the vaccine, but they can put pressure on you.”
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Elephants in a wandering herd in southwest China walked down urban roads and poked their trunks through windows as they neared a Chinese city and authorities rushed to protect both the animals and people.It’s not clear why the 15 elephants have made their long trek, which has been documented and monitored both on the ground and from the air by a dozen drones. Authorities have urged people in the area to stay indoors and are blocking roads with construction equipment while seeking to lure the animals away with food.The elephants have already walked 500 kilometers from a nature reserve in Yunnan’s mountainous southwest. They appear healthy in images showing them roaming through farmland, villages and down paved roads at night in urban areas.On Tuesday, they turned up at a retirement home and poked their trunks into some of the rooms, prompting one elderly man to hide under his bed, according to residents interviewed by online channel Jimu News.The Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday the herd by late Wednesday night had reached the Jinning district on the edge of Kunming, a city of 7 million people that is the capital of Yunnan province.The government of the semi-rural district issued a notice urging residents not to leave corn or other food out in their yards that might attract the animals and to avoid contact with them.It was “forbidden to surround and gawk at the elephants” or to disturb them by using firecrackers or other materials, the notice said.Sixteen animals were originally in the group, but the government says two returned home and a baby was born during the walk. The herd is now composed of six female and three male adults, three juveniles and three calves, according to official reports.No injuries have been reported, but reports say the elephants have damaged or destroyed more than $1 million worth of crops.When and how the elephants will be returned to the reserve isn’t clear.Elephants are the largest land animals in Asia and can weigh up to 5 metric tons.
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A tropical storm left at least three people dead and displaced thousands of villagers in the southern and central Philippines, where it triggered floods and landslides, officials said Wednesday.Forecasters said the storm Choi-wan was blowing off Victoria town in Oriental Mindoro province south of Manila on Wednesday afternoon with sustained winds of 65 kph and gusts of up to 90 kph. It was moving northwestward and may weaken as it blows toward the South China Sea on Thursday, they said.At least three people died, including a 14-year-old villager who rushed with her father to a riverbank to rescue their farm animals in intense rain but were swept away by strong currents in Norala town in South Cotabato province. The father remains missing, disaster response officials said.A baby died in a landslide that hit a mountainous town in southern Davao de Oro province and a 71-year-old man drowned in Davao del Sur province, also in the south, officials said.Coast guard personnel rescued villagers who were trapped in houses engulfed in rising floodwater, including in Southern Leyte province, where they carried 40 residents, including children, in waist-deep waters to a gymnasium.More than 2,600 people were displaced, mostly by floods, in 18 southern villages, including about 600 villagers who moved to evacuation centers. Thousands more were evacuated Tuesday from towns prone to floods and volcanic mudflows in Albay province, provincial safety official Cedric Daep said.Officials also suspended work in Albay and ordered shopping malls closed to prevent people from converging and increasing the risk of coronavirus infections, Daep said.More than 3,000 passengers and cargo handlers were stranded in central and southern seaports after sea travel was suspended by the coast guard due to stormy weather. A small cargo ship laden with sand and gravel was abandoned by its crew when it started to take in water near Albuera town in central Leyte province. The crew was safe, coast guard spokesperson Armand Balilo said.About 20 tropical storms and typhoons batter the Philippine archipelago each year. The Southeast Asian nation is also located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismically active region where volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur frequently, making it one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world.
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The University of Hawaii is due to receive up to $210 million in federal funding over five years to lead a research institute aimed at better conserving and managing coastal and marine resources in the Hawaiian Islands and U.S.-affiliated Pacific islands. The school won the right to host the new Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research following an open, competitive evaluation, the  Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported Wednesday.The institute will replace the existing Joint Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Research, which has been operating at the university since 1977.But this time more than double the money will be available from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which funded the old institute and will be funding the new one.The award comes with the potential for another five years if the university is successful. 
NOAA said the new institute will conduct research aimed at understanding and predicting environmental changes in the Indo-Pacific region.In a release, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz described the university as a recognized leader on climate and marine science in the region.”NOAA’s investment in UH will help us better forecast natural hazards like hurricanes, king tides and tsunami; protect the health of our oceans and fisheries in the face of climate change; and maintain the U.S. leadership role in ocean and earth science in the region,” said Schatz, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.Research will be conducted along eight themes: ecological forecasting, ecosystem monitoring, ecosystem-based management, protection and restoration of resources, oceano­graphic monitoring and forecasting, climate science and impacts, air-sea interactions, and tsunami and other long-period ocean waves.
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The United States on Wednesday condemned actions by Hong Kong authorities to stifle dissent, calling out attempts to erase memories of the Tiananmen Square massacre as the anniversary nears.U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration called the Chinese government’s violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations in and around Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989, a massacre.”The United States condemns actions by Hong Kong authorities that prompted organizers to close the June 4th Museum that commemorates the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre,” said State Department deputy spokesperson Jalina Porter during a telephone briefing.”Hong Kong and Beijing authorities continue to silence dissenting voices by also attempting to erase the horrific massacre from history,” Porter added.The State Department’s strong comments came as Hong Kong’s June 4th Museum said it would temporarily close because of a licensing probe by authorities.No venue licenseDays before the anniversary, Hong Kong’s Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said the museum had not obtained a public entertainment venue license and was potentially in breach of regulations.FILE – A small replica of the Goddess of Democracy is displayed at the June 4th Museum in Hong Kong, May 20, 2020.The museum said in a statement that it would close until further notice to protect the safety of staff and visitors, and that further legal advice was needed.Hong Kong police have cited COVID-19 restrictions in prohibiting an annual vigil to commemorate the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre for the second consecutive year.Hong Kong’s Security Bureau also warned residents not to participate ​in this year’s June 4 vigil, citing  penalties of up to five years in prison for those attending and a year in jail for anyone “advertising or publicizing” it.”The relevant meetings and procession are unauthorized assemblies. No one should take part in it, or advertise or publicize it, or else he or she may violate the law,” the Security Bureau said Saturday.Corruption targetedMore than three decades ago, student-led pro-democracy protests centered on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, with corruption among the elite a key complaint of demonstrators. Protesters were also calling for political reforms and a more fair and open society.Human rights groups believe several hundred to several thousand people were killed when tanks rolled through Tiananmen Square to squelch the demonstrations.The Chinese Communist Party strictly bans commemorations of the event.
 
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Southeast Asia’s powerful negotiating bloc has ignored pressure to chase Myanmar over violence and suspected human rights problems, ensuring that a negative spotlight does not turn on other members or threaten the group’s prized neutrality, analysts believe. They say any public condemnation of Myanmar’s junta government, which took power in a February 1 coup, or the threat of action against it would expose at least five other Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members to scrutiny over human rights issues as perceived by critics in the West. “If ASEAN violates and crosses the line by passing judgments on each other’s internal affairs, this would be slippery because most ASEAN governments have skeletons in the closet,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political science professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. Bloc members Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines have been accused of mishandling human rights and civil liberties over the years. As of Tuesday, 841 civilians have been killed and 5,576 arrested in Myanmar since the February 1 coup, the advocacy group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners says. The junta took over after popular elections in November signaled consolidation of the country’s decade-old, pro-democracy reforms. The military ruled Myanmar, also known as Burma, before 2011. Myanmar border nations Bangladesh and China have urged ASEAN to act, while the United Nations has proposed an embargo on arms sold to Myanmar despite protests from ASEAN member countries. ASEAN’s Jakarta-based secretariat did not answer a request this week for comment on the Myanmar issue. However, leaders from the bloc are expected to visit the country this week to discuss developments, according to reports. ASEAN membership, which includes Myanmar, has a non-interference policy amongst member states.Non-intervention outlook  ASEAN, with 10 members spanning a population of about 660 million, traditionally avoids interfering in the domestic affairs of any single country and prides itself as a bloc focused on helping all members get ahead via trade, cross-border travel and anti-COVID-19 measures. Many of the 10 member nations have deep disagreements with one another that do not surface at formal ASEAN events. The Southeast Asian group lacks the power of other regional blocs, such as the Economic Community of West African States, said Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow with the Singapore Institute of International Affairs. ECOWAS responds to coups by suspending member countries and imposing sanctions. Country by country Democratic nations in the bloc, particularly Indonesia, have put pressure on Myanmar individually, especially as more problems there could spark an outflow of refugees. Some among the Muslim Rohingya population that has sparred with Myanmar’s government for decades have already fled to Malaysia and Indonesia.Pan-Southeast Asian Agreement Aims to Stop Spillover of Myanmar Violence Association of Southeast Asian Nations issues five-point consensus calling for ‘immediate cessation’ of violence in Myanmar and ‘utmost restraint’ by all parties “I think Indonesia as the largest, most powerful, most populous country in Southeast Asia, it is in a sense trying to play a more commensurate role to its size and power,” Oh said. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan in March called Myanmar’s unrest “an unfolding tragedy” and said other Southeast Asian countries need to develop a response. Refugee crisis feared If Myanmar “sinks into a civil war-like situation” and violence escalates, ASEAN will feel more pressured to act so the region avoids a refugee crisis, said Alexander Vuving, a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii. ASEAN’s strength — and only option — would be talks, experts say. The bloc regularly pulls in China, Japan and the United States for talks on other issues. “If violence stays high or increases, ASEAN will be less patient, but ASEAN, because it’s working on the principle of consensus, doesn’t have a better alternative than just dialogue,” Vuving said. ASEAN could draw on its strength in “convening” countries in pairs or in bigger groups including non-members, said Priscilla Clapp, former permanent charge d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Myanmar. Myanmar unfazed Myanmar for its part could seek support from Asia’s most powerful nation China if it came under too much criticism, Thitinan said. China is not an ASEAN member and some existing members, such as Vietnam and the Philippines, have their own disputes with Beijing. China and Myanmar historically have close ties despite friction over Chinese investments in the Southeast Asian country. Myanmar’s coup leaders are probably paying little attention to ASEAN’s dilemma, Clapp said. They are “wrapped up in an alternative universe,” she said, and the military leader Min Aung Hlaing has “surrounded himself with yes men.” “He’s confident in no intervention by ASEAN,” Clapp said. 
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Malaysia’s foreign ministry says it will lodge a formal protest with China over an “intrusion” of 16 Chinese warplanes into its airspace earlier this week. Malaysia’s air force deployed fighter jets to intercept the planes after they were  detected by radar about 60 nautical miles (about 111.12 kilometers) off the coast of Sarawak state on Borneo island, located in the South China Sea. The planes were identified as Ilyushin iL-76 and Xian Y-20 strategic transporters flying at an altitude between 7 and 8 kilometers. The foreign ministry called the incident “a serious threat to national sovereignty and flight safety.” “Malaysia’s stand is clear — having friendly diplomatic relations with any countries does not mean that we will compromise our national security,” Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein later said in a statement. The Chinese Embassy denied Kuala Lumpur’s accusations, saying the planes were conducting routine flight training and strictly adhered to international law.   China has claimed territorial rights over nearly the entire South China Sea, ignoring overlapping claims by regional neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. It has aggressively expanded its military presence throughout the sea, building man-made islands and installing military outposts and aircraft landing strips.   
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U.S. meat processor Tyson Foods Inc. will launch its plant-based food in select Asia-Pacific markets starting this month, as it looks to cash in on the burgeoning demand for meat substitutes in the region its rivals have set out to capture. Impossible Foods Inc., Nestle SA and Beyond Meat Inc. have already entered Asia with their plant-based meat products, expecting rising demand for the protein from consumers conscious about health, animal welfare and the environment. Retail sales of meat substitutes in Asia-Pacific reached $16.3 billion in 2020 and are expected to exceed $20 billion by 2025, according to data provided by Euromonitor to Tyson Foods. “The Asian market is a natural fit for this category with traditional plant-based products like tofu already entrenched in the culture,” Tan Sun, president of Tyson Foods Asia-Pacific, said in a statement. Tyson Foods, the biggest U.S. producer of animal meat by sales, said on Tuesday it would first roll out plant-based nuggets, strips and bites in Malaysia under its First Pride brand, with a view to expand into other markets. The Jimmy Dean sausage-maker launched its plant-based products late last year from its Raised & Rooted brand in Europe. 
 
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A man in eastern China has contracted what might be the world’s first human case of the H10N3 strain of bird flu, but the risk of large-scale spread is low, the government said Tuesday.
The 41-year-old man in Jiangsu province, northwest of Shanghai, was hospitalized April 28 and is in stable condition, the National Health Commission said on its website.
No human case of H10N3 has been reported elsewhere, the commission said.
“This infection is an accidental cross-species transmission,” its statement said. “The risk of large-scale transmission is low.”
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Cities around the world are installing new technology that connects to the personal devices of pedestrians, drivers, and riders on public transportation. Some cities are using these systems to make transportation easier for people with disabilities, such as those who are blind. For VOA, Jason Strother has the story from Busan, South Korea.
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New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has insisted relations with close ally Australia are not going to be negatively impacted by China. The Ardern government has been accused of going soft on Beijing in order to profit from better trade relations with the East Asian nation.Ardern has also been holding annual talks with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to discuss trade, security and the challenges linked to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the New Zealand skiing and adventure sports resort of Queenstown, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, have downplayed signs of division over relations with China. Earlier this year, New Zealand said it was “uncomfortable” using the 70-year-old Five Eyes intelligence grouping, which includes the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada, to criticize China. That was widely interpreted as an attempt by Wellington to avoid damaging its lucrative trading relationship with Beijing. A television news documentary accused New Zealand of abandoning Australia “for a fast Chinese buck.” New Zealand was reluctant to sign joint statements from its alliance partners condemning China’s crackdown on the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong and its treatment of its minority Uyghur Muslim population. The declarations have angered China’s government. But after annual talks Monday with the Australian prime minister, Ardern said she stood in solidarity with her trans-Tasman neighbor. “At no point in our discussions today did I detect any difference in our relative positions on the importance of maintaining a very strong and principled perspective on issues around trade, on issues around human rights, and you will see that Australia and New Zealand have broadly been positioned in exactly the same place on these issues consistently. So, I really push back on any suggestion that we are not taking a strong stance on these incredibly important issues,” Ardern said.New Zealand has also indicated it will support Australia in its ongoing trade dispute with China. Tensions between Canberra and Beijing have increased in recent years over geopolitical disputes and allegations of Chinese interference in Australian politics. Canberra’s call for a global investigation into the origins of the coronavirus, which first emerged in China in late 2019, sent the relationship into a tailspin, resulting in sweeping Chinese tariffs on many Australian exports, including wine, barley and coal. Morrison said his country’s relationship with New Zealand remained strong. “As great partners, friends, allies and indeed family, there will be those far from here who would seek to divide us, and they will not succeed,” Morrison said. There are, however, areas of disagreement.  Canberra’s controversial deportation of New Zealanders convicted of crimes, including children, has strained the two countries’ relationship. A senior Australian minister compared the policy to “taking the trash out.” In response, New Zealand officials said practice was “deplorable” and that the minister’s inflammatory remarks served only to “trash his reputation.” Both countries also discussed how to ease tough COVID-19 border controls to eventually reconnect with the rest of the world. In a joint statement, Ardern and Morrison urged China to respect human rights in Hong Kong and criticized its incarceration of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.  In response, China said that Australian and New Zealand leaders had made “irresponsible remarks” on its internal affairs and made groundless accusations against Beijing. China has been a subject of global condemnation over the treatment of a million Muslim Uyghurs held in internment camps, including a U.S. classification of Chinese policies toward Uyghurs as ‘genocide.’
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A popular Chinese blogger will spend the next eight months in jail under a new provision in China’s criminal law that prohibits “defaming martyrs.” Qui Ziming was sentenced Tuesday in a courtroom in the eastern city of Nanjing.  The court ordered the 38-year-old Qui to publicly apologize within 10 days, noting that he had openly admitted to his crime and apologized during an appearance on China’s state-owned broadcaster CCTV back on March 1.   The Chinese military said back in February that four soldiers were killed in clashes with Indian troops in the disputed Galwan Valley along the two countries’ shared border last June.  Qui, who blogged under the pseudonym “Labixiaquio,” wrote a series of blog posts suggesting more soldiers were killed during the clashes, and that a commanding officer had survived because he was the highest officer on the scene. Authorities accused Qui of violating a provision of China’s Criminal Law that defames figures considered by the ruling Communist Party to be heroes and martyrs, including fallen soldiers.   
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Several hundred people in New Zealand were evacuated from their homes Monday, with some recounting dramatic helicopter rescues as heavy rain caused widespread flooding in the Canterbury region. Authorities declared a state of emergency after some places received as much as 40 centimeters (16 inches) of rain over the weekend and into Monday. Forecasters warned of possible heavy rain through Monday evening before conditions improve. The military helped evacuate more than 50 people, including several overnight in an NH90 military helicopter. One man was clinging to a tree near the town of Darfield when he jumped into floodwaters and tried to swim to safety but was swept away, the military said.  Helicopter crews scoured the water for 30 minutes before finding the man and plucking him to safety. The military helicopter also rescued an elderly couple from the roof of their car. A member of the New Zealand Defense Force rescues a dog from floods as they assist a family with their evacuation near Ashburton in New Zealand’s South Island, Sunday May 30, 2021.”Seeing the community overnight pull together and support the displaced residents who were evacuated from their homes has been heartening,” said Captain Jake Faber, Army liaison officer. Another man was rescued by a civilian helicopter pilot Sunday after he was swept from his farm as he tried to move his stock to safety.  Paul Adams told the news organization Stuff that he thinks he got hit by a wall of water he didn’t see coming. He was swept down the raging Ashburton River before managing to drag himself onto a fence and then into a tree. Another farmer spotted his headlamp and organized a rescue mission. “The rescuers are fantastic,” Adams told Stuff, adding that he was now back on his farm and “good as gold.” He said that so far, he’d found only about 100 of his herd of 250 animals alive. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who was visiting New Zealand, told reporters that he was thinking of those caught up in the floods. “Australia is no stranger to floods,” Morrison said. “Or fires, or cyclones, or, indeed, even mouse plagues. We have, both countries, endured a large amount of challenge over the course, particularly, of these last few years.” New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern planned to travel to Christchurch later Monday to be briefed on the situation firsthand. 
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A large haul of precursor chemicals in Laos since the end of last year has revealed` the new recipe being used by the methamphetamine cooks of Asia and the routes crime groups are using to get raw materials from Chinese factories, through Thai ports and into the narcotics labs of the Golden Triangle.Meth production in the region has gone into overdrive since Myanmar’s February 1 military coup unsettled the complex balance of power in the Golden Triangle, an area dominated by warlords, armed militias, gunrunners and drug traffickers, say law enforcement officials.Laos, Myanmar and Thailand are within this mountainous corner. Laos and Myanmar share a border with China.Thailand, the main route for Myanmar meth to the Asia-Pacific, has so far this year seized more than 300 million meth pills known as “yaba,” or crazy medicine, and nearly 20 tons of the highly addictive crystal meth, or “ice” — double last year’s haul over the same period, according to Thai drug authorities.It is the consequence of ruptured cease-fires among Myanmar’s ethnic rebel groups as a result of the coup that ousted the government of Aung San Suu Kyi.“Fighting in Myanmar near the drug production sites is forcing out the products at a higher volume than usual,” according to Police Major General Pornchai Charoenwong, deputy commissioner of Thailand’s Narcotics Suppression Bureau (NSB).The drugs flow through Thailand, but then sweep out to the Asia-Pacific, officials say.In mid-May, the Australian Border Force found 316 kilograms of ice with a street value of nearly $80 million packed inside a shipment of immersion heaters and barbecues originating from a Thai port.But changes in production are most immediately felt by Myanmar’s neighbors. Laos is the poor, landlocked Communist-run neighbor to Myanmar’s Shan State, where most of the meth is manufactured.It is the key route into the Golden Triangle for precursor chemicals, as well as the main exit point for the end product — the highly addictive synthetic drugs to the Asia-Pacific market.FILE – A giant Buddha on the Thai side of the Golden Triangle in Chiang Rai province, is seen with Myanmar in the background and Laos on the right, Sept. 20, 2019.Authorities there recently revealed a seizure of 200 tons of precursors. The stash included 72 tons of made-in-China propionyl chloride, a new ingredient or a “pre-precursor” transported through Vietnam and captured in Bokeo, Laos, the gateway to Myanmar drug factories.“You can only imagine the amount of drugs that volume of precursors can make,” a Laos official told VOA News on the condition of anonymity.Curse of the precursorsThe highly flammable liquid is not banned — unlike traditional meth staples ephedrine and pseudoephedrine (used in cold remedies) — and its appearance heading into the Golden Triangle shows the ability of drug networks to “shift gears,” said Jeremy Douglas, regional representative with the U.N.’s Office of Drugs and Crime.“They have long been creative smugglers, but they are now bypassing stringent chemical controls and producing precursors using pre-precursors — not easy, and it signals sophistication and knowledge not seen elsewhere,” Douglas said.Precursors pose a complicated cross-border challenge, with some controlled, others entirely legal in normal industrial use.Thailand is a major entry point for the huge tonnage needed by the drug production zones but struggles to keep on top of the flow of containers full of chemicals — an issue only likely to get worse as infrastructure improves.FILE – Bags of methamphetamine pills are pictured during the 50th Destruction of Confiscated Narcotics ceremony in Ayutthaya province, Thailand, June 26, 2020.Drug traffickers exploit “loopholes” in customs’ laws, a Thai drug official told VOA News, requesting anonymity.“We’re a transit point, so customs has no authority to open the container for inspection without a warrant, or at least a good reason,” the official said. “So, these precursors are unloaded at the port onto trucks set for Laos with no problems.”The same Thai ports — especially Laem Chabang in the eastern seaboard — are being used to move the finished product of crystal meth out to the most expensive markets.The recent Australian meth haul was traced to a boat that left Laem Chabang. As Myanmar slumps deeper into chaos, and armed rebel groups hunt money to stockpile guns to fight the army known as the Tatmadaw, drug experts say stemming the flow of precursors is the only way to slow drug production.Until then, regional police fear the flow of drugs from the Golden Triangle is going to worsen, with the crime bosses at the apex of an estimated trade worth up to $60 billion a year so rich and connected they remain beyond arrest.“You can never really take down these networks,” Montree Yimyam, commissioner of Thailand’s Narcotics Suppression Bureau, told reporters. 
 
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Britain’s intelligence agencies — along with other Western European security services — are assisting a new American investigation to try to establish the origins of the coronavirus pandemic, according to officials on both sides of the Atlantic.  The central focus of the investigation is on the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China as suspicions mount that the novel bat-derived virus roiling the world, and which has led to at least four million deaths, may have leaked from its lab, a claim Beijing has furiously denied.British officials briefed London newspapers Sunday that the thesis the virus escaped from the lab is “plausible” and “feasible,” a turnaround from British intelligence’s skepticism for most of the past 18 months of the possibility that the pandemic may have been triggered by a lab leak. Other Western intelligence agencies were also skeptical last year of the leak theory, seeing it as being only a remote possibility.But last week, U.S. President Joe Biden instructed American intelligence agencies to investigate the leak theory and report back within three months. Biden’s order came after U.S. intelligence discovered more details about three researchers at the Wuhan lab who fell ill in November 2019, several weeks before the first identified case of the outbreak — and more than a month before China informed the World Health Organization of “cases of pneumonia” of an “unknown cause” had been detected in Wuhan.The researchers were hospitalized with symptoms consistent with both COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, but also with common seasonal respiratory illnesses, according to a U.S. intelligence report first publicly disclosed by The Wall Street Journal.The new details have added to circumstantial evidence supporting the theory that the virus may have spread to humans after a leak from the Wuhan lab, say Western officials.FILE – An aerial view shows the P4 laboratory of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, in Wuhan, China, April 17, 2020.A WHO-led team report earlier this year ruled the lab-leak theory “extremely unlikely,” and favored the prevailing theory that the coronavirus most likely originated in a Wuhan wet market, jumping from an animal, likely a bat or pangolin, to humans. But the WHO inquiry has come under mounting criticism from some prominent Western scientists — as well as Western governments, who say the Chinese authorities blocked the WHO team during a four-week visit to Wuhan in January.
Eighteen of the world’s top epidemiologists and geneticists wrote a letter to the journal Science calling for an independent inquiry into the lab leak theory.British intelligence officials confirmed to Britain’s Sunday Telegraph that British security agencies are cooperating with the new American probe. “We are contributing what intelligence we have on Wuhan, as well as offering to help the American to corroborate and analyze any intelligence they have that we can assist with,” an official was quoted as saying.They added: “What is required to establish the truth behind the coronavirus outbreak is well-sourced intelligence rather than informed analysis, and that is difficult to come by.”Intelligence officials on both sides of the Atlantic say the probe will include using artificial intelligence systems to help data mine everything from Chinese social media comments to intercepted phone and electronic communications in China. Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters, also known as GCHQ, the eavesdropping spy agency and the country’s largest intelligence service, will be key in Britain’s collaboration with the U.S., British officials told VOA.With few on-the-ground intelligence sources in China, Western intelligence agencies are believed to be trawling the so-called “dark web” to unearth information posted and shared there anonymously by Chinese scientists and officials secretly critical of the Communist government.FILE – A technician is seen inside the the P4 laboratory of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, in Wuhan, China, Feb. 23, 2017.British lawmakers are welcoming the redoubled effort to identify the origins of the pandemic. “The silence coming from Wuhan is troubling. We need to open the crypt and to see what happened, to be able to protect ourselves in the future,” Tom Tugendhat, chair of the House of Commons’ foreign affairs committee said on Sunday.  China’s authorities have denied there was any leak from the Wuhan lab, which conducts research on viruses and receives some funding from the U.S. government. Last year, Chinese propagandists blamed the coronavirus outbreak on a U.S. Army sports delegation which visited Wuhan and touted several conspiracy theories subsequently discredited by prominent virologists and epidemiologists.Last week, China’s Global Times, a Chinese Communist Party daily tabloid newspaper, condemned Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious disease expert, for saying he supported investigating multiple theories of the virus’ origins, including probing whether it leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.Fauci said it was important to increase efforts to unearth why, where and how the pandemic began because knowing the origin could help prevent future outbreaks of coronaviruses. “I think we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we continue to find out to the best of our ability what happened,” he said.The Global Times accused Fauci of attempting “to hype the old and groundless narrative that the virus was leaked from a lab in Wuhan.” It said the leak theory “is a blatant lie, a conspiracy created by U.S. intelligence agencies and media outlets to slander China, and China has denied it.”
 
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A Japanese newspaper is reporting that potential spectators of the Tokyo Olympics will either have to show proof they received a COVID-19 vaccine or tested negative for the virus. On Monday, government officials are considering to impose other measures such as banning eating, loud cheering and exchanging high-fives, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. Commuters walk near Shinjuku Station in Tokyo on May 31, 2021 after the announcement that the government extended a coronavirus emergency in Tokyo and other parts of the country until just a month before the Olympics. (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)Reports of restrictions will likely cast a further cloud over the upcoming Olympics, observers say, which are facing growing public opposition amid a new wave of COVID-19 infections across Japan and a slow rate of vaccinations. Tokyo and several other regions in Japan are under a state of emergency that was set to expire Monday, but have been extended until June 20, just a little over a month before the opening ceremonies.   Foreign spectators have already been barred from attending the Olympics.   The Tokyo Olympics are set to take place after a one-year postponement as the novel coronavirus pandemic began spreading across the globe. But a new public opinion survey published Monday by the Nikkei newspaper revealed over 60% of those asked want the games to either be delayed again or outright cancelled, compared to just 34% in favor of holding the event as scheduled. Members of Australia’s Olympic softball squad at Sydney Airport on May 31, 2021 before their departure for a pre-Games training camp in Ota, Gunma Prefecture, Japan. The squad will be among the first athletes to arrive in Japan from overseas.The Asahi Shimbun newspaper, a major sponsor of the Tokyo Games, issued an editorial last week calling for the event’s cancellation due to the worsening COVID-19 crisis, the first major Japanese newspaper to do so. The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association, which represents about 6,000 primary care doctors and hospitals, has also called on Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to convince the International Olympic Committee to cancel the games. New restrictions in South Africa
In South Africa, new coronavirus restrictions are set to take effect on Monday as it deals with a growing number of new infections. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Sunday that a nighttime curfew will take effect at 11 p.m. local time, forcing all non-essential businesses such as restaurants, bars and fitness centers to close an hour earlier. All gatherings will be limited to a maximum number of 100 people indoors and 250 outdoors.   South Africa posted 4,515 new cases over the last 24 hours Monday, and an average of 3,745 new infections over the last seven days, while just 963,000 people, less than one percent of its 60 million citizens, have been vaccinated, according to data report on the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. Experts warn that the current wave of new COVID-19 cases could worsen with the upcoming Southern Hemisphere winter season. Johns Hopkins is reporting more than 170.3 million global coronavirus infections, including over 3.5 million deaths. The United States is leading in both categories with 33.2 million total cases and 594,431 deaths.  
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The organizers of the Tokyo Olympics have secured about 80% of the medical staff needed to stage the Games, a top Olympic official told Reuters on Monday, amid worries over infections and the slow rollout of vaccinations in the Japanese capital. Toshiaki Endo, vice president of the Games organizing committee, said some domestic spectators could be allowed into venues for the benefit of athletes, although he personally preferred a total ban on attendance in order to reassure the public amid widespread opposition to the event. The number of medical staff necessary to service the Games, including doctors, nurses and physical therapists, had been lowered by about a third from the original target of 10,000 and 80% of that new number had been secured. “We’ve received double the number of expected applications from sports doctors when we asked for cooperation,” said Endo, one of seven vice presidents on the board of the organizing committee and a former Olympics minister. Organizers were working with 10 hospitals in Tokyo and 20 outside the city to respond to emergencies. Doctors have warned the Olympics would pressure the healthcare system which is already under strain as Japan sees record numbers of COVID-19 patients in critical condition, although the pace of new infections has slowed. Only 2.4% of the public have completed their inoculations, a Reuters tracker shows. FILE – Senior citizens wait to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at a large-scale vaccination center in Osaka, western Japan, May 24, 2021, in this photo distributed by Kyodo.Endo said the organizers were working with the association of nurses to mobilize staff, including people who had the qualifications but did not work as nurses on a regular basis. Polls show most people in Japan are opposed to holding the Games, concerned about tens of thousands of athletes, officials and media descending on the country, where last week a state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas was extended to June 20.   Spectators, mediaEndo said countries with much higher infection rates had successfully hosted sports events without outbreaks and that was why there was “no reason to think about cancellation” in Tokyo. Asked what the organizers would do if there was an explosive spread of infections, Endo was non-committal. “Hypothetically, can we hold the Games if there is a sudden 10- or 100-fold increase? We’ll need to make a decision at the time,” he said. Successful vaccination rollouts across Europe and a growing number of those inoculated in Japan would allow organizers to safely host the global sports showpiece, he said. One of the key decisions still to be decided was whether to allow domestic spectators to attend. “I personally had thought we should quickly decide to hold the Games without spectators to reassure everyone,” Endo said. “But of course, if you think about this from the point of view of the athletes, they want to compete while being cheered on by the spectators. “That’s why, if possible, we’d like to allow the spectators in… but depending on the situation we also need to consider the no-spectators option.” A decision would be reached toward the end of the state of emergency around June 20, he said. FILE – People protest the Tokyo 2020 Olympics amid the coronavirus outbreak, around Olympic Stadium (National Stadium) as an Olympic test event for athletics is held inside the venue in Tokyo, Japan, May 9, 2021, in this photo taken by Kyodo.Out of about 80,000 people who would come to Japan for the Games, Endo said he was most worried about the news media. “Of course, media members will be subjected to thorough movement controls, and we would feel safe if they observed these rules,” he said. “But we won’t be able to follow one person after another so we’ll have to trust them.”  
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China announced on Monday that married couples may have up to three children, a major policy shift from the existing limit of two after recent data showed a dramatic decline in births in the world’s most populous country. The change was approved during a politburo meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping, the official news agency Xinhua reported. In 2016, China scrapped its decades-old one-child policy – initially imposed to halt a population explosion – with a two-child limit, which failed to result in a sustained surge in births as the high cost of raising children in Chinese cities deterred many couples from starting families. “To further optimize the birth policy, (China) will implement a one-married-couple-can-have-three-children policy,” Xinhua said in a report on the meeting.  The policy change will come with “supportive measures, which will be conducive to improving our country’s population structure, fulfilling the country’s strategy of actively coping with an aging population and maintaining the advantage, endowment of human resources”, Xinhua said. It did not specify the support measures. The announcement drew a chilly response on Chinese social media, where many people said they could not afford to have even one or two children. “I am willing to have three children if you give me 5 million yuan ($785,650),” one user posted on Weibo Early this month, China’s once-in-a-decade census showed that the population grew at its slowest rate during the last decade since the 1950s, to 1.41 billion. Data also showed a fertility rate of just 1.3 children per woman for 2020 alone, on a par with ageing societies like Japan and Italy. Also on Monday, China’s politburo said it would phase-in delays in the country’s retirement ages but did not provide any details. 
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Hundreds of people were evacuated overnight and many more face the risk of abandoning their homes in New Zealand’s Canterbury region as heavy rains raised water levels and caused widespread flooding.At least 300 homes in Canterbury were evacuated overnight as water levels rose in rivers across the region in a “one-in-100-year deluge,” local media reports said Monday.Several highways, schools and offices were closed, and New Zealand’s Defense Forces deployed helicopters to rescue some people stranded in floods in the Ashburton area.Ashburton’s Mayor Neil Brown said “half of Ashburton” would need to be evacuated if the river’s levees broke but there was “still quite a bit of capacity” in the river.”We need it to stop raining to let those rivers drop,” said Brown, according to the New Zealand Herald.New Zealand’s MetService had issued a red warning Sunday for heavy rain for Canterbury and multiple warnings elsewhere.The government announced NZ$100,000 ($72,500) toward a Mayoral Relief Fund to support Canterbury communities impacted by the flooding, Kris Faafoi, the acting minister for emergency management said in a statement.”While it is still very early to know the full cost of the damage, we expect it to be significant and this initial contribution will help those communities to start to get back on their feet,” Faafoi said.
 
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