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April
Taiwan says Ukraine conflict will inform this year's military drills
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan's main military drills this year will draw on the experiences of the war in Ukraine, focusing on asymmetric and cognitive warfare as well as use of reserves as it practices fighting off a Chinese attack, a top officer said on Wednesday.
Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, has raised its alert level since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, wary that Beijing might make a similar move on the island, though it has reported no signs this is about to happen.
What lessons to learn from the war has been widely debated in Taiwan, and discussed with the United States, according to Taiwan's defence minister. read more
Lin Wen-huang, head of the Taiwan defence ministry's joint operations department, said this year's Han Kuang exercises, which simulate a Chinese invasion and are Taiwan's largest annual war games, would "draw on the experience" of the Ukraine war.
"Of course, we will keep a close watch on the Russia-Ukraine war and the movements of the Chinese Communist's military, and will carry out exercises," he told reporters. "Taking into account the lessons of the Russia-Ukraine war, the military will continue to forge ahead on improving the use of asymmetric warfare, cognitive warfare, information and electronic warfare operations, and use of reserves and full strength of the nation."
Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what it called a "special operation" to degrade its military capabilities and root out what it calls dangerous nationalists. Ukrainian forces have mounted stiff resistance and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw its forces.
Taiwan has been reforming its reserves to make them more combat effective, a task given more urgency by the Ukraine war. read more
Cognitive warfare refers to how information can affect morale, something Taiwan says it already faces from China, while asymmetric warfare is about deploying highly mobile and sometimes low-tech weapons that are hard to destroy and can deliver precision attacks.
The United States, Taipei's most important international backer and arms supplier, has also been watching the strategic fallout for Taiwan from the Ukraine war, and considering how the island should prepare itself for an invasion by China.
Matthew Pottinger, deputy national security advisor during the Trump administration, told a forum organised by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies that Taiwan needs to follow in Ukraine's footsteps in terms of training snipers and making improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.
"And there's a lot more that the United States should be doing on the ground in Taiwan," he said, according to a transcript published on Tuesday. "I don't care if they're wearing U.S. uniforms or not. They can show up in shower shoes and flip flops and Hawaiian shirts for all I care. They need to be on the ground intensively helping train Taiwan."
The United States already helps train Taiwanese military personnel, though it is rarely publicised. A small number of U.S. forces are in Taiwan to train with Taiwanese soldiers, President Tsai Ing-wen said in an interview with CNN in October. read more
China has dismissed any comparisons between Ukraine and Taiwan, saying that Taiwan is a part of China and not an independent country.
China has been stepping up its military pressure against Taiwan over the past two years or so.
Taiwan rejects China's sovereignty claims and says only the island's people can decide their future. (Reuters)
April
Climate rows resurface in Australia's ruling coalition ahead of election
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia's ruling conservative coalition on Wednesday looked to downplay internal debates over climate policy ahead of a national election to be held on May 21 after signs of division re-emerged over the government's emission reduction targets.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was forced to back the government's emission targets after a member of the junior coalition partner claimed the global push toward net zero was "sort of dead anyway".
National Party Senator Matt Canavan, a vocal opponent of emission targets, also urged the government to build more coal-fired power stations, reigniting a row within the coalition over climate policy just weeks from the election.
"Everybody knows that Matt hasn't been supportive of (net zero) position ... that's not his party's position, that's not the coalition's position and it's not the government's," Morrison told reporters on Wednesday. "There is no news there."
Australia, the world's top coal and a major gas exporter, in October adopted a target to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, but Morrison says he will not legislate the goal. read more
Morrison had to confirm his Liberal-National Party coalition government's position on emissions on Tuesday after Colin Boyce, a Liberal party candidate in resource-rich Queensland, said there was "wiggle room" in Australia's net-zero target.
Morrison needs the support of voters in coal and gas-producing regions, many of whom oppose strong action on climate change even though the wider Australian population backs efforts to slash carbon emissions.
While some coalition candidates in regional seats are talking down climate action, others in urban areas are talking up their climate credentials as they face strong challenges from independents who support lower emissions targets.
The opposition Labor party is ahead of the coalition, according to polls, although Morrison has extended his lead as the country's preferred leader. read more
Centre-left Labor said the coalition was "in open warfare" about emissions policy.
"After apparently putting this war to bed over the last few months, it has erupted," Shadow Resources Minister Murray Watt told ABC television. (Reuters)
April
Female suicide bomber kills three Chinese teachers and Pakistani at Karachi university
Written by Nur Yasmin
A suspected female suicide bomber killed three Chinese teachers in Karachi on Tuesday, police and officials said, drawing strong condemnation from Beijing, in the first major attack this year against nationals of long-time ally China working in Pakistan.
The three were among passengers on a minibus returning to Karachi university after a lunch break when the bomb exploded at the entrance to the university's Confucius Institute, killing the Chinese teachers and a Pakistani national, police and officials said.
A separatist group, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) based in southwestern Balochistan province bordering Afghanistan and Iran, claimed responsibility for the blast, adding in an email to Reuters the attack was carried out by a woman suicide bomber.
It shared in the email a photo of her clad in a long shawl sitting with two children. The photo could not be verified independently by police or other officials.
Karachi police chief Ghulam Nabi Memon said "the reports we have got say they're Chinese." He added they were teachers at the Confucius Institute, a Chinese language and cultural centre. read more
"The information we've got is that the female bomber was most probably a student at the university," Memon told Geo News TV.
A guard and another Chinese citizen were also wounded in the minibus.
China's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned the attack and "demanded" Pakistan punish the perpetrators, protect Chinese citizens and prevent such incidents from happening again.
"The blood of the Chinese people should not be shed in vain, and those behind this incident will surely pay the price," it said in a statement.
Media showed CCTV footage of a woman dressed in black wearing a backpack standing close to the bus shortly before the bomb went off and sent up clouds of fire and smoke.
Police did not verify the footage.
Pakistani media also showed the wrecked minibus dotted with shrapnel holes, and witnesses said the explosion was so big it rattled the windowpanes of other buildings on the sprawling campus.
The bombing was the first major attack against Chinese nationals in Pakistan since July last year when a suicide bomber blew up a passenger bus in northern Pakistan that killed 13 people, including nine Chinese working on a hydro-power plant. read more
Other attacks on Chinese working in Pakistan have taken place in Balochistan province, where separatist militants have waged an insurgency against authorities for decades.
Balochistan houses a deep-water port in Gwadar city which Beijing is developing under the China Pakistan Economic-Corridor (CPEC) project as part of President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road initiative to expand trade linkages.
The incident poses a major challenge to Pakistan's newly elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who took power this month. He condemned what he called a cowardly act of terrorism.
"I am deeply grieved on the loss of precious lives including of our Chinese friends in the heinous attack in Karachi today," Sharif said in a statement. He promised a speedy investigation.
The Baloch separatist guerrillas, who say they are fighting for a greater share in regional resources of mines and minerals, usually attack gas projects, infrastructure and the security forces.
They also attack Chinese projects and workers despite Pakistan's assurances that it is doing everything it can to protect the projects.
Islamabad blames neighbouring India for backing the insurgents, a charge New Delhi denies. (Reuters)
April
New Zealand High Court finds quarantine allocation system infringed on rights
Written by Nur Yasmin
New Zealand's once lauded COVID-19 response took a hit on Wednesday, when a High Court judge ruled a system used to allocate places in border quarantine facilities infringed on some citizens' right to return home.
New Zealand has recently eased border restriction [https://www.reuters.com/world/new-zealand-reopen-borders-phases-end-feb-2022-02-02/] but during 2020 and 2021 it had some of the toughest border controls in the world.
Citizens looking to return had to either make emergency requests to the government or secure a spot in state quarantine facilities, called MIQ. Due to demand outstripping hotel rooms, a type of lottery system was introduced.
It left tens of thousands of expatriate New Zealanders cut off from families back home. Critics called the system unfair, something that the judgement released Wednesday by High Court Justice Jillian Mallon agreed with.
Mallon said restrictions preventing a person from being able to enter their country for three months couldn't be justified and evidence indicates at least some New Zealanders experienced unreasonable delays.
"The combination of the virtual lobby and the narrow emergency criteria operated in a way that meant New Zealanders’ right to enter their country could be infringed in some instances," said Mallon.
However, Mallon did find that requiring returning New Zealanders to quarantine was not in itself an unjustified infringement.
The decision is a blow for the government, whose once lauded response to the pandemic has been taking a hit domestically as people push for borders to reopen more quickly and other measures such as mask wearing mandates to be removed.
COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the government welcomed the determination that requiring returnees to quarantine was lawful and acknowledge the court found the quarantine allocation system may have infringed on some New Zealanders rights.
"We are carefully considering the court's decision," he said.
New Zealanders and Australians read more can now enter without quarantine and those from visa waiver countries such as the United States and Singapore will be able to enter from 11.59 pm on May 1. (Reuters)
April
Sri Lankan veterans protest against president who led them during war
Written by Nur Yasmin
Missing both legs and an arm, former special forces soldier Thushara Kumara is an unlikely critic of Gotabaya Rajapaksa, a wartime defence chief who became Sri Lanka's president in 2019.
But the 43-year-old army pensioner is one of several dozen veterans now camping out at a protest site near the president's office in Colombo, having lost faith in a leader who stubbornly resisted calls to resign when the economy began to implode and most of his cabinet quit.
"We dedicated our lives to save this country and it is extremely sad to see what has happened to it now," Kumara said, sat surrounded by old comrades, several with prosthetic limbs.
Weakened by the pandemic, the Indian Ocean island's economy was fast-tracked toward disaster by a surge in global oil prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February. The government finances were already in a parlous state, partly owing to populist policies, including tax cuts.
Rapidly dwindling foreign currency reserves left Sri Lanka, a country of 22 million people, without enough dollars to pay for vital imports of fuel, food and medicine, and sometimes violent street demonstrations erupted this month as shortages and power cuts became acute.
Earlier this month Sri Lanka kicked off talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a programme to stabilise the economy. The government is also in talks with several countries and multilateral agencies to line up about $3 billion in bridge financing and has suspended repayment on some of its foreign debt to divert funds to pay for essential imports.
Amid the unfolding crisis, there have been street protests countrywide, with thousands of people joining some demonstrations.
"I get a pension because of the taxpayers of this country, and we have a responsibility to step up now and support the brave efforts by these young people to save this country," Kumara said.
"They are fighting for this country's future," said the veteran, who had served in the army for 16 years. "That is why we are here."
Father to three children, Kumara lost his limbs in a mortar explosion weeks before Sri Lanka’s bloody 26-year war against Tamil separatists ended in May 2009.
Rajapaksa and his brother, then-president Mahinda Rajapaksa, ordered the offensive that finally broke the rebels' resistance, but thousands of people died in the onslaught.
At the small but growing protest camp by Colombo's waterfront, there were people of all ages and faiths, including Muslims breaking their Ramadan fast, saffron-clad Buddhist monks and Catholic nuns wearing habits.
Although there were only a few dozen army veterans, their presence indicated the discontent had reached even Rajapaksa's most ardent supporters.
Ministry of Defence spokesperson Colonel Nalin Herath declined to comment on the involvement of veterans in the protests, though he said the military supported the government's position to allow peaceful dissent.
"The Defence Secretary has clearly stated there will be no obstruction to peaceful protests," he said.
The veterans, some of whom have travelled hundreds of kilometres from their homes, sleep on thinly-padded mats by the busy sea-front road, taking turns to use public washrooms located further down the scenic stretch of beach.
"We are used to hardship. So, we aren't too worried about meals," Uditha Roshan, 40, said, sipping on ginger tea provided by volunteers as passers-by stop to take selfies with the men, most of whom are amputees.
Many of the veterans said they would not vote for Rajapaksa again, having backed him in 2019 when he campaigned hard on national security in an election that came months after the Easter bomb attacks by Islamist militants rocked the nation.
"He will not get the chance to be a presidential candidate again," said H.M.S Mahindasiri, 40, a double amputee who voted for Rajapaksa three years ago. "The people have no faith in him." (Reuters)
April
Climate change putting 4% of global GDP at risk, new study estimates
Written by Nur Yasmin
Climate change could see 4% of global annual economic output lost by 2050 and hit many poorer parts of the world disproportionately hard, a new study of 135 countries has estimated.
Ratings firm S&P Global, which gives countries credit scores based on the health of their economies, published a report on Tuesday looking at the likely impact of rising sea levels, and more regular heat waves, droughts and storms.
In a baseline scenario where governments largely shy away from major new climate change policies - known as 'RCP 4.5' by scientists - lower- and lower-middle income countries are likely to see 3.6 times greater gross domestic product losses on average than richer ones.
Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka's exposure to wildfires, floods, major storms and also water shortages mean South Asia has 10%-18% of GDP at risk, roughly treble that of North America and 10 times more than the least-affected region, Europe.
Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa regions all face sizable losses too. East Asia and Pacific countries face similar levels of exposure as Sub-Saharan Africa, but mainly because of storms and floods rather than heat waves and drought.
"To different degrees, this is an issue for the world," said S&P's top government credit analyst, Roberto Sifon-Arevalo. "One thing that really jumps out is the need for international support for many of these (poorer) parts of the world".
Countries around the equator or small islands tend to be more at risk, while economies more reliant on sectors such as agriculture are likely to be more affected than those with large services sectors.
For most countries, exposure to, and costs from climate change are already increasing. Over the past 10 years, storms, wildfires, and floods alone have caused losses of around 0.3% of GDP per year globally according insurance firm Swiss Re.
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) also calculates that, on average, a weather, climate, or water related disaster has occurred somewhere in the world every day for the last 50 years, causing 115 daily deaths and over $202 million in daily losses.
S&P's Sifon-Arevalo said that some countries have already suffered credit ratings downgrades due to extreme weather, such as some Caribbean Islands after major hurricanes.
But he said the new data was not about to be plugged into the firm's sovereign ratings models, as there were still too many uncertainties such as how countries might adapt to the changes.
A study last year by a group of UK universities looking at a more extreme rise in global temperatures, predicted that over 60 countries could see their ratings cut because of global warming by 2030.
Some experts have also suggested a sliding scale for ratings, where highly-exposed countries would have one credit score for the next 10 years or so and another one for further in the future when problems are likely to be biting.
"We strive to tell what is relevant and where," Sifon-Arevalo said. "But we don't rate to a worst-case scenario, we rate to a base-case scenario." (Reuters)
April
Russia's Gazprom halts gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria
Written by Nur Yasmin
Russian energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) on Wednesday halted gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria for failing to pay for gas in roubles, the Kremlin's toughest response yet to the crippling sanctions imposed by the West for the invasion of Ukraine.
Poland and Bulgaria are the first countries to have their gas cut off by Europe's main supplier since the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine that has killed thousands of people, displaced millions more and raised fears of a broader conflict.
"Gazprom has completely suspended gas supplies to Bulgargaz (Bulgaria) and PGNiG (PGN.WA) (Poland) due to absence of payments in roubles," Gazprom said in a statement.
Warsaw and Sofia said the halt to supplies was a breach of contract by Gazprom, the world's biggest natural gas company.
Gazprom, which supplies around 40% of European gas, also warned that transit via Poland and Bulgaria - which host pipelines supplying Germany, Hungary and Serbia - would be cut if gas was siphoned off illegally.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's demand for rouble payments for gas is the centrepiece of Russia's response to the West's sanctions which include the freezing of hundreds of billions of dollars of Russian assets.
Putin casts the sanctions as an act of economic war but cutting off supplies to Poland and Bulgaria is one of Moscow's most significant steps in the gas market since the Soviets built gas pipelines to Europe from Siberia in the early 1970s.
Despite objections from the United States that Europe's biggest economies were making themselves too dependent on Soviet - and then Russian - gas, Moscow sought for five decades to cast itself as a reliable energy supplier for Germany's economy.
In the past 15 years, Russia and Ukraine have bickered over pricing resulting in disruptions to supply. In the winter of 2008/2009, Russian supply disruptions rippled across Europe. Moscow also cut off supplies to Kyiv in 2014 after Russia annexed Crimea.
The war in Ukraine has changed assumptions about Europe's post-Cold War relationship with Russia - including over oil and gas supplies.
Putin demanded that "unfriendly" countries agree to a scheme under which they would open accounts at Gazprombank and make payments for Russian gas imports in euros or dollars that would be converted into roubles. Most European companies had initially rejected the rouble payment scheme.
Only a few Russian gas buyers, such as Hungary and Germany's Uniper (UN01.DE), the country's main importer of Russian gas, have said it would be possible to pay for future supplies under the scheme announced by Moscow without breaching European Union sanctions.
The Kremlin said on Tuesday Gazprom was implementing Putin's decree on enforcing payment for gas supplies in roubles. read more
"Payments for gas supplied from April 1 must be made in roubles using the new payments details, about which the counterparties were informed in a timely manner," Gazprom said.
In a sign that Gazprom's halt to supply could soon be expanded to other countries, one of the Kremlin's most loyal lawmakers lauded the move and said other unfriendly countries should be cut off too.
"The same should be done with regard to other countries that are unfriendly to us," said Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma. read more
Volodin said the leaders of the West would have to explain to their own citizens why their energy bills were soaring because of sanctions on Russia.
Poland, for centuries a rival of Moscow, has repeatedly said it will not pay for Russian gas in roubles and has planned not to extend its gas contract with Gazprom after it expires in the end of this year.
Warsaw has also said it had enough alternative sources of gas, including seaborne liquefied natural gas.
There are few immediate alternatives.
Poland's gas supply contract with Gazprom is for 10.2 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year, and covers about 50% of national consumption.
Bulgaria, where annual gas consumption is about 3 bcm, has sealed a deal to receive 1 bcm of Azeri gas but can only fully tap the contract after a new gas pipeline with Greece becomes operational later this year.
Bulgaria, heavily reliant on Russian gas, has also said it would not hold talks with Gazprom to renew its natural gas purchase deal, which also runs until the end of the year.
The Yamal-Europe pipeline across Poland supplies Russian gas to Germany, although it has mostly been working in a reverse mode this year, supplying gas eastward from Germany. Bulgaria is a transit country for gas supplies to Serbia and Hungary.
Bulgaria Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov said the country had paid for Russian gas deliveries for April and halting gas supplies would be a breach of its current contract with Gazprom.
"Because all trade and legal obligations are being observed, it is clear that at the moment the natural gas is being used more as a political and economic weapon in the current war," Nikolov said.
The benchmark Dutch front-month gas contract at the TTF hub jumped by more than 19% on the day on Wednesday morning to 117 euros per megawatt hour. (Reuters)
April
Woman graduate student behind suicide attack at Pakistani university
Written by Nur Yasmin
A woman suicide bomber who killed three Chinese teachers in Pakistan was a teacher who had enrolled for a master's degree months before her attack, carried out on behalf of separatist insurgents, a Pakistani official said on Wednesday.
The blast detonated by the 30-year-old woman on Tuesday blew up a minivan outside Karachi University's Confucius Institute, a Chinese language and cultural centre, killing her, the three Chinese teachers and a Pakistani driver. read more
It was the first major attack this year against nationals of long-time ally China working in Pakistan, and it drew Beijing's condemnation.
A separatist group, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) based in the southwestern province of Balochistan, said the mother of two, who held a graduate degree in zoology and was studying for another, had volunteered for the attack targeting China, whose investment projects in Balochistan they oppose. read more
"Baloch Liberation Army once again warns China to immediately halt its exploitation projects ... Otherwise our future attacks will be even harsher," the BLA said in an email.
Baloch separatist guerrillas have been fighting for a greater share of their province's natural resources for decades, mostly focusing attacks on natural gas projects, infrastructure and the security forces.
But in recent years they have attacked Chinese projects and workers. Balochistan and its deep-water port in Gwadar are a major link in China's Belt and Road network of infrastructure and energy projects stretching to the Middle East and beyond.
For years, suicide bombing in Pakistan have been a tactic of Islamist militants, usually carried out by men or boys. The Baloch separatists said this was their first suicide attack by a woman and warned of more.
The threat of suicide attacks by the BLA will be a major worry for Pakistan as it tries to reassure China it is doing everything it can to protect its projects and people.
China's Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned the attack and demanded Pakistan punish the perpetrators and prevent such incidents happening again.
A Pakistan interior ministry official who declined to be identified said the woman, a science teacher from Balochistan, had signed up for a second master's degree at Karachi University about five months ago.
An investigation had been launched by police and civilian and military intelligence agencies, the official said.
The acting vice chancellor of Karachi University, Nasira Khatoon, expressed "heartfelt condolences" to the families of the blast victims and said the campus would remain closed on Wednesday.
"We hope that the government will punish the elements involved ... and believe that every possible step will be taken to reach the elements behind the attack," she said. (Reuters)
April
EU says Russian gas halt is 'unjustified', working on response
Written by Nur Yasmin
Russian gas giant Gazprom's announcement that it halted supplies to some European customers is "unjustified and unacceptable", European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday, adding the EU was working on a coordinated response to the escalation by Moscow.
Gazprom (GAZP.MM) on Wednesday said it had halted gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria for failing to pay for gas in roubles, Moscow's toughest response yet to sanctions imposed by the West over the conflict in Ukraine. read more
"The announcement by Gazprom that it is unilaterally stopping delivery of gas to customers in Europe is yet another attempt by Russia to use gas as an instrument of blackmail," von der Leyen said in a statement.
"This is unjustified and unacceptable. And it shows once again the unreliability of Russia as a gas supplier," she said.
Von der Leyen said the EU was prepared for this scenario, and would continue its work to ensure alternative supplies of gas and ensure gas storage is filled. EU rules require all countries to have a contingency plan to cope with a gas supply shock.
Von der Leyen said the EU was working on a coordinated response to Russia's escalation, and its "gas coordination group" of representatives from national governments and the gas industry was meeting on Wednesday morning.
Poland’s climate ministry said on Tuesday its energy supplies were secure and there was no need to limit supply to consumers.
The Commission has said companies should continue to pay the currency agreed in their contracts with Gazprom - 97% of which are in euros or dollars - and that paying in roubles could breach the EU's sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
EU gas storage is currently 32% full. EU countries are negotiating emergency rules that would require them to fill storage 80% by November this year, to form a supply buffer in time for winter, when gas heating demand peaks. (Reuters)
April
China's capital in race to detect COVID cases, avoid Shanghai's distress
Written by Nur Yasmin
Millions of people in Beijing took their second COVID-19 tests of the week on Wednesday as the Chinese capital tried to keep an outbreak numbering in the dozens from spiralling into a crisis like the one the locked-down city of Shanghai is enduring.
Evidence that Shanghai's month-long isolation has become almost unbearable for many of the city's 25 million people is emerging on an almost daily basis on the country's heavily censored internet.
A widely circulated video - since taken down - showed a foreigner trying to break through metal barriers onto a Shanghai street, before being pulled back and dragged to the ground by four people in protective hazmat suits.
"I want to die," the man shouted repeatedly in Chinese and English. One of the people holding him down responded: "You came to China, you need to respect the laws and regulations here."
"Calm down, calm down," says another. Reuters was unable to immediately verify the authenticity of the video.
Such distressing scenes are being watched with apprehension in Beijing, where officials hope early mass testing will spare them the anguish of Shanghai, where officials waited for about a month as cases surged before ordering city-wide screening.
In Beijing, supermarkets have kept supplies well-stocked under orders from authorities. Shi Wei, 53, a retiree, said he was encouraged by the capital's low caseload but still nervous.
"These past two days every time I go to the supermarket there are lots of people, so I just turn around and leave, as I feel slightly unsafe," he said. "I can understand the panic, given what happened in Shanghai."
Geng, 31, who works in finance and only gave his surname, said he worried about being a close contact of a COVED case and being forced into quarantine with his whole family.
Beijing was testing the more than 3.5 million residents of its Chaoyang district on Wednesday, all of whom were screened on Monday. On Tuesday, 16 million from other districts were tested and are due for another round on Thursday.
In total, 20 million of Beijing's 22 million will be tested three times this week.
It was unclear what percentage of those tests led to the detection of Beijing's 31 new COVED cases on Tuesday, compared with the previous day's 33.
As of 8 p.m. on Monday, the results from 526,457 samples from Chaoyang came in negative. Officials have yet to publish all the results from Monday's test.
The coronavirus first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 and authorities managed to keep outbreaks largely under control with strict lockdowns and travel bans. But the fast-spreading Omicron variant has tested China's "zero-COVID" policy.
Shanghai has been offered a glimmer of hope with officials reiterating that they would soon begin easing restrictions in districts that have stamped out infections, without giving a time frame or other details.
In the meantime, most people are confined to their homes. Even those who can go out have few options, with most shops and other venues closed.
Data showed six of Shanghai's 16 districts had zero cases outside quarantined areas, with numbers in seven others in the single digits. In total, Shanghai detected 171 such cases on Tuesday, down from Monday's 217.
Shanghai reported 48 new deaths on Tuesday, down from 52 the day before, taking the city's official death tally since April 17 to 238.
China's zero tolerance policy has provoked rare public anger in an important year for President Xi Jinping, over measures that look increasingly bizarre to an outside world that has chosen instead to "live with COVED" as infections spread.
Xi is widely expected to seek a third leadership term this year.
Research by Gavekal Dragonomics estimated that 57 of China's 100 biggest cities were under some form of COVED curbs as of last week.
The measures have hurt consumption, disrupted industry and prompted official efforts to stimulate the world’s second largest economy, including stepping up infrastructure investment, state television reported, citing a meeting chaired by Xi. read more
Hundreds of factories have been allowed to resume operations, with state media giving plenty of coverage of the reopening of Tesla's (TSLA.O) Shanghai plant last week.
But industry associations say most factories are struggling to get back to work with staff stuck at home, trucks parked in lots, and orders of components from contractors in the same situation unfilled. read more
Many of the bankers, traders and investors confined to their homes say they are considering moving to other financial centres. (Reuters)