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May
Taiwan tightens curbs after reporting 180 new domestic COVID-19 cases
Written by nuke
People wearing protective face masks wait for the metro amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Taipei on May 11, 2021. (File photo: Reuters/Ann Wang) -
Taiwan raised its COVID-19 alert level on Saturday (May 15) in its capital, Taipei, and the city around it, bringing curbs for a period of two weeks that will shut many venues and restrict gatherings in the wake of 180 new domestic infections.
The new rules will not mean that offices, schools or restaurants have to close, but will cause the shutdown of cinemas and other entertainment spots, while limiting family get-togethers to five people indoors and 10 outdoors.
Since the pandemic began, Taiwan has reported fewer than 1,500 cases among a population of about 24 million, most of them imported from abroad, but a recent rise in community transmissions has spooked residents.
The island has never gone into a full lockdown, and its people are used to life carrying on near normal, despite the pandemic ranging in many other parts of the world.
Late on Friday, several universities, including the elite National Taiwan University, said they would immediately switch to remote learning, telling students to stay away from campuses.
"As COVID-19 is still wreaking havoc, please be reminded to wear a mask at all times when you go out, wash hands frequently and keep appropriate social distancing," National Taiwan University said in a statement.
The Taipei Fine Arts Museum, outside which people have queued for a hugely popular exhibition by Japanese artist Shiota Chiharu that opened this month, said it would close from Saturday to comply with the city's COVID-19 prevention rules.
Taipei's National Palace Museum, home to one of the world's best and most extensive collections of Chinese art, said it too would close from Saturday//CNA
May
Funding for new coal projects drying up fast in Southeast Asia as climate pressures mount
Written by nuke
Funding for new coal projects drying up fast in Southeast Asia as climate pressures mount -
An exodus of financing for new coal projects in Southeast Asia is heaping pressure on new regional coal power projects and the companies and governments hoping to persist with burning fossil fuels for energy.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) delivered yet another blow to regional coal financing when it announced last Friday (May 7) that it would conditionally cease funding new coal-fired power stations as well as coal mining and oil and natural gas production and exploration.
It follows a raft of Southeast Asian banks and development banks and export credit agencies (ECAs) from China, Japan and South Korea pulling their support for dirty energy generation, as ambitious climate change targets filter through the sector.
“If these banks all stop financing, coal is dead because coal is not bankable without government subsidised finance,” he said.
ADB announced a major - but expected - shift in policy following mounting demands for it to cease supporting projects not aligned with tackling climate change.
"Coal and other fossil fuels have played a large part in ensuring access to energy for the region's economic development, but they have not solved the energy access challenge, and their use harms the environment and accelerates climate change," the bank said in its new draft energy policy, while not ruling out supporting natural gas projects in the future, under certain conditions.
The development bank said that it has invested US$42.5 billion in the energy sector across the region between 2009 and 2019, but last invested in a new coal plant eight years ago in Pakistan. Last month, it pledged to target US$80 billion in climate financing by 2030.
It follows pledges from the Japanese and South Korean governments to end or tighten the financing of overseas fossil fuel plants, which includes projects in the ASEAN region, as both countries upped their climate change target commitments last month.
Globally, coal funding is on life support - funding for new projects dropped in 2019 to the lowest levels seen in a decade. Yet Southeast Asia remains a holdout on the trend, contributing to the growth of a commodity fast reaching its expiry date.
It means that some countries will continue to persist with coal as long as they can. And despite all the financial headwinds, Fitch Solutions analysis does not predict coal demand to peak until 2028, and new coal projects still account for more than an estimated 40 per cent of total power capacity in Asia’s power project pipeline.
“Coal will remain the dominant generation source in the regional power mix, despite its share falling slightly over the coming decade,” said Sabrin Chowdhury, a senior commodities analyst at Fitch Solutions.
“This is largely due to several governments across the region retaining an ongoing commitment to coal, as it remains the most practical means to stimulate affordable electricity generation growth at the pace and scale needed by many emerging markets in the region at present,” she said//CNA
May
UK to speed up vaccinations, warns Indian variant may delay full reopening
Written by nuke
Maoula Jan, 52, who is British and originally from Afghanistan receives his second dose of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine from volunteer vaccinator Steve Kriss, at a vaccine centre in the Swaminarayan School in Neasden, north London, Saturday, May 1, 2021. (Photo: AP/Matt Dunham) -
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday (May 14) Britain would accelerate its COVID-19 vaccination programme, to try to contain a fast-spreading variant first identified in India that could knock a re-opening of the economy off track.
The United Kingdom has delivered one of the world's fastest inoculation campaigns, giving a first shot to almost 70 per cent of the adult population and a second to 36 per cent, helping to reduce infection rates and deaths.
But the emergence of the B16172 variant in parts of northern England and London has prompted some scientists to call for the reopening to be delayed, and a rethink on the speed of the vaccine rollout.
"I believe we should trust in our vaccines to protect the public whilst monitoring the situation very closely because the race between our vaccination programme and the virus may be about to become a great deal tighter," Johnson told a news conference.
He said the government would accelerate remaining second doses to the over 50s and those clinically vulnerable to just eight weeks after the first dose, and would prioritise first doses for those eligible who had not yet come forward.
Even so, the spread of the variant could disrupt Britain's progress out of lockdown, making it more difficult to move to the final stage of a staggered reopening of the economy in June, he said.
Johnson had aimed to lift all restrictions on Jun 21, after allowing people in England from Monday to hug again, meet in small groups indoors and travel abroad.
Chris Whitty, England chief medical officer, said there was now confidence that B16172 was more transmissible than the "Kent" variant that fuelled England's second wave of infections. He said B16172 could come to dominate in Britain.
Whitty said so far there had not been a significant increase in hospitalisations from the variant, which may be because more people had been vaccinated.
But both Johnson and Whitty said it was still early days, and scientists would need to scrutinise data over the next two or three weeks to truly see the impact of the variant.
Britain put India on a travel "red list" in April, meaning all arrivals from India - now suffering the world's worst wave of COVID-19 - would have to pay to quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days.
Media reports at the time suggested that, because the quarantine requirement was announced four days in advance, many people had sought to fly beforehand. Britain has a large South Asian community.
Even with new variants, the government is likely to want to avoid repeating the regional curbs used last year, which ultimately failed to prevent two further national lockdowns.
At the national level, infections are still low, and fell for a fifth consecutive week in England, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures showed on Friday//CNA
May
Global firms leave Myanmar office block with military ties
Written by Nur Yasmin
A number of tenants of a high-end office block in Myanmar that the United Nations said is built on military-owned land have moved out or are reviewing their leases, including McKinsey, Coca-Cola and Reuters, the companies said.
Activist group Justice for Myanmar last month called on commercial tenants of the Sule Square complex of offices and shops in the heart of Myanmar's commercial hub of Yangon to stop indirectly supporting the army.
"Sule Square has big-name tenants that continue to lease office space in the building, indirectly supporting the army," Justice for Myanmar said in a report in which it identified 18 of the tenants.
Reuters approached all of the companies named in the report. Of the six that said they had moved or were reviewing office plans, only one cited the military link. Others cited various reasons including business prospects.
Business has collapsed in the Southeast Asian country since a Feb. 1 coup that prompted widespread protests and strikes, during which the army has killed hundreds of civilians and arrested thousands.
Opened in 2017 near the historic Sule Pagoda, Sule Square was developed by a local affiliate of Hong Kong listed Shangri-La Asia (0069.HK), which also manages the building and an adjacent hotel.
The site was leased from the military, according to a 2019 fact-finding mission established by the United Nations to investigate the army's economic interests, media and human rights groups.
As the basis for its conclusion that the land is owned by the military, the mission in its report cited what it called digital records. One of the authors of the report, human rights consultant Chris Sidoti, said the material had been archived and was not immediately available.
On Tuesday, Reuters made a request to the United Nations to get access to the records.
Shangri-La, which said in 2017 it had invested $125 million in the development, declined to comment on Reuters' questions about land ownership.
A spokesman for Myanmar's junta did not answer calls seeking comment. Reuters could not independently verify details of the land lease deal.
Myanmar's military, which directly ruled for almost 50 years after taking power in a 1962 coup, owns large tracts of land and controls conglomerates that span everything from mining to banking.
McKinsey & Company terminated its lease of serviced office space in Sule Square in early 2021, said Melissa Yeo, director of reputation and communications, Southeast Asia, at the consultancy, without elaborating.
In an emailed statement, Coca-Cola (KO.N) said it would not be renewing its lease when it ends in mid-June citing "changing business requirements".
When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for Reuters (TRI.TO), which was not one of the companies named in the report, said it is not currently using its Sule Square office and was reviewing its tenancy. The spokesperson did not comment on the building's possible military ties.
BUSINESS IMPACT
Singapore-based private equity firm Emerging Markets Investment Advisors said it had moved out of Sule Square after its lease ended in March, while Norwegian fertiliser firm Yara said it had started looking for alternative office space.
Of the companies that said they had moved or were reviewing office space, only Yara (YAR.OL) cited the military ownership.
"We have only recently been made aware that the landlord is owned by a company who pays land lease to the military," said Josiane Kremer, director, external relations at Yara.
She did not elaborate on how Yara became aware of the ownership details.
Norwegian state-owned telecoms firm Telenor (TEL.OL) said it had been aware of the military-owned land under Sule Square before it moved in but it had picked the location due to factors such as safety.
Telenor did not comment on its future office plans nor did it elaborate on how it became aware of the ownership.
The World Bank, which also has an office in Sule Square, said it was "assessing the situation in Myanmar, according to internal policies and procedures". It did not elaborate on its plans.
French container shipping firm CMA CGM said it was "conducting further investigations" and Canadian realtor Colliers International Group Inc (CIGI.TO) said its Myanmar business was run by an independent franchisee and declined to comment further.
Japan's Sony Corp (6758.T) said it previously had a representative in Myanmar but its office had closed "due to the local situation" and it now sold only through distributors.
Several other groups named in Justice for Myanmar's report, including the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar and British insurer Prudential either did not respond to a request for comment or declined to comment.
The University of Reading and Mastercard were named in the Justice for Myanmar report but told Reuters they did not rent offices in Sule Square. Reuters could not independently confirm that. (Reuters)
May
Myanmar's army needs to cooperate for peace, Singapore says
Written by Nur Yasmin
Myanmar's army needs to cooperate to end the crisis since the Feb. 1 coup and Southeast Asian countries should keep pressing it to show restraint and start dialogue with its opponents, Singapore's foreign minister said on Tuesday.
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) said after meeting junta leader Min Aung Hlaing last month they had reached consensus on five points including an end to violence, talks between Myanmar's rivals and a visit by an ASEAN envoy.
But the civilian death toll has continued to rise as the army tries to suppress protests. The junta has also said it will not agree to the envoy's visit before it restores stability and has branded its opponents as a terrorist group.
"This will not be an easy process. The cooperation of the Tatmadaw will be needed," said Singapore's foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan in a response to parliamentary questions, using the widely used name for Myanmar's army.
"ASEAN will also have to continue to speak collectively to urge the Myanmar military authorities to uphold the consensus – particularly to exercise maximum restraint and begin meaningful dialogue with all parties concerned."
Balakrishnan's comments were one of the clearest public responses from an ASEAN country since Myanmar's army appeared to distance itself from the consensus at the meeting in Indonesia's capital.
A shadow National Unity Government set up by the junta's opponents has also voiced scepticism over the ASEAN deal and has said there can be no talks until thousands of political prisoners are freed - including elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Balakrishnan said ASEAN should continue to call for the release of Suu Kyi and others.
Some of ASEAN's 10 countries have urged the junta in Myanmar - a member state - to free the political prisoners. But freeing prisoners was not part of the consensus agreed at last month's meeting.
The United Nations human rights body said on Tuesday that more than 780 people had been killed by the army since the coup. (Reuters)
May
Philippines detects Indian variant as daily COVID-19 cases near 8-week low
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Philippines has detected its first two cases of a coronavirus variant first identified in India, its health ministry said on Tuesday, even as confirmed daily COVID-19 infections fell to a near eight-week low.
The World Health Organization has classified the coronavirus variant, known as B.1.617, as a variant of global concern with some preliminary studies showing that it spreads more easily. read more
The variant had been confirmed in two Filipino seafarers who returned in April, Alethea De Guzman, director of the ministry's epidemiology bureau, told a news conference
"We need to continually monitor what other variants we may be able to detect locally, as well as monitor the spread of the variants we have already detected," De Guzman said, adding that the seafarers were isolated on their return and had both recovered.
Separately, the health ministry reported on Tuesday 4,734 new coronavirus infections, the lowest single-day tally since March 17, bringing total cases to more than 1.11 million.
The number of daily infections in the Philippines, which is battling one of the worst outbreaks in Asia, has fallen from a peak of 15,310 on April 2, but has stayed above the daily average of roughly 1,700 cases for 2020.
The drop in cases, if sustained, will buoy hopes that tougher restrictions imposed on March 29 will be relaxed to help the economy, which contracted 4.2% in the first quarter.
In a bid to prevent the entry of variants, the Philippines has temporarily barred travellers coming from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh from entering the country.
Indonesia and Malaysia this month reported the first cases of the B.1.617 coronavirus variant. The Philippines has also previously recorded cases of a variant first detected in Britain and another first discovered in South Africa, as well as a homegrown P.3 variant.
The Philippines has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases and casualties in Southeast Asia, next to Indonesia. (Reuters)
May
Taiwan denounces China's 'shameless lies' about WHO access
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan's foreign minister criticised what he called China's "shameless lies" on Tuesday in an escalating dispute about Beijing blocking the island from the World Health Organization (WHO), saying China clearly did not care about Taiwan's people.
The United States and the rich-nation Group of Seven (G7) have called for Chinese-claimed but democratically ruled Taiwan to attend the WHO's decision-making body, the World Health Assembly, which meets from May 24.
Taiwan is excluded from most global organisations such as the WHO because of the objections of China, which considers the island one of its provinces not a country.
China's foreign ministry said on Monday that "appropriate arrangements" have been made for Taiwan's participation in global health matters and that nobody cared more for Taiwan's people than the Chinese government. read more
"Shameless lies! Just goes to show the CCP can't tell the truth," Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on Twitter, referring to China's ruling Communist Party.
"After what Beijing has done to Xinjiang, Tibet & Hong Kong, no sane person would believe it could take care of Taiwan's health needs or otherwise," Wu added. "Thank God we aren't under China's control! Please help us keep it at a distance."
Wu said China's Communist Party could not claim to speak for Taiwan as it has never ruled it and only the island's democratically elected government can represent its people.
In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the blame lay with Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for refusing to accept the island was part of China.
"The DPP authorities know this well. Taiwan compatriots are our flesh and blood. The Chinese central government takes all necessary measures to ensure the health and well-being of the Taiwan compatriots," she added.
While the WHO cooperates with Taiwan's technical experts on COVID-19, it is up to member states whether to invite Taiwan to observe the WHO meeting, the WHO's principal legal officer Steve Solomon said on Monday.
China can easily corral enough countries to support blocking Taiwan from the World Health Assembly, according to diplomats. (Reuters)
May
Vietnam seeks mRNA tech transfer amid COVID-19 vaccine supply issues
Written by Nur Yasmin
Vietnam is seeking the transfer of mRNA technology to domestically manufacture COVID-19 vaccines, state media reported on Tuesday, as officials warned of supply issues until the end of the year.
MRNA vaccines, like that developed jointly by BionTech (22UAy.DE) and Pfizer (PFE.N), prompt the human body to make a protein that is part of the virus, triggering an immune response.
"Given the currently limited supply to Vietnam, especially as the COVID-19 situation is showing complicated developments, the health ministry has met with a World Health Organization representative to facilitate the negotiations on transferring of mRNA technology," the Vietnam News Agency reported.
Governments are looking to build up local vaccine production after manufacturing setbacks slowed rollouts in some countries.
Vaccine makers have come under growing pressure to free up their patents to aid poor countries. BioNTech and other COVID-19 vaccine makers have said they were already transferring vital production knowledge to other parts of the world.
On Monday, BioNTech announced plans to set up a regional centre and a new vaccine factory in Singapore. read more
Vietnam has been praised for its record in containing COVID-19 outbreaks quickly through targeted mass testing and a strict, centralised quarantine programme.
But a new outbreak emerged late last month and has already reached 25 of its 63 provinces, with a daily record 129 cases reported on Monday, although infections are still relatively low at 501 in the past two weeks.
Vietnam said last week it aims to administer all of its 928,800 AstraZeneca (AZN.L) doses, most of which came via the global COVAX scheme, by May 15.
"The health ministry is trying to obtain more vaccines, and we expect to receive more by the end of 2021, but it won't be enough for community immunity," Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said in a statement on Tuesday.
"At least from now until the end of 2021, Vietnam will have to take anti-COVID-19 measures as if it hasn't received any vaccines." (Reuters)
May
Taiwan tightens restrictions after new domestic COVID cases
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan's government on Tuesday tightened rules on public gatherings after reporting six new domestic COVID-19 cases with no clear source of infection, a rare rise on the island which has kept the pandemic well under control.
Taiwan largely closed its borders early on in the pandemic and has a robust contact tracing and quarantine system, meaning its low case numbers - 1,210 infections to date including 12 deaths - have allowed life to carry on more or less as normal.
Already dealing with an outbreak amongst pilots of Taiwan's largest carrier China Airlines and at a hotel where some of them stayed, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters they had confirmed six new cases with no clear source of infection.
Five of these are in the northeastern county of Yilan and one in New Taipei, which surrounds the capital Taipei. None have a recent history of overseas travel, Chen added.
"We hope that this does not spread," he said, calling on people to wear masks, wash their hands and ensure social distancing while the government tracks down those who had been in contact with the infected to quarantine and test them.
Effective immediately until June 8, all outdoor activities of more than 500 people and inside activities of 100 or more should be cancelled, Chen said. Food and drink will also be banned on trains.
Similar restrictions have been put in place before, though Taiwan has never gone into a total lockdown. More than 90% of COVID-19 cases have been imported from abroad.
The rise in domestic infections, reported in local media before being officially announced, helped drag down the stock market (.TWII), which ended off 3.8% on Tuesday. (Reuters)
May
Australia's Victoria on alert after first COVID-19 case in two months
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia's second most populous state reported a locally acquired COVID-19 case for the first time in more than two months on Tuesday, sending authorities scrambling to find the source of the infection amid concern about a new outbreak.
A man in his 30s, who returned from India in mid-April and completed mandatory two-week hotel quarantine in neighbouring South Australia, tested positive for the virus after developing symptoms over the weekend, authorities said.
Health workers had interviewed the man and urged people he had been in contact with to self-isolate and get tested. They also published a list of locations exposed to the virus.
Though Australia has largely eradicated the virus with border closures, Victoria has had most of the coronavirus cases and deaths and spent much of 2020 in lockdown.
"There is definitely a sense of complacency creeping in," Victoria Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told reporters.
"We haven't had really significant outbreaks for some time and people drop their guard, people go about life as if we haven't been through the 15 months we have all been through. But it is a reminder that we need to be on guard."
Victoria had no immediate plans to elevate social distancing or mask-wearing rules, said Sutton, adding it was possible the man caught the virus in quarantine in Australia and not in India.
There were no other cases reported in Victoria or in New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state, which tightened its virus-protection rules last week when a couple tested positive without a known source. read more
The new Victorian case rekindled calls for the federal government to play a more active role in the hotel quarantine system, which is administered by the states.
"We are going to need a strong border control and a strong quarantine control likely for years," Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said at the news conference.
"We cannot continue to have a situation where it is the states disproportionately bearing the load."
Australia has reported just over 29,900 novel coronavirus cases and 910 deaths since the pandemic began.
It closed its borders to all but citizens and permanent residents in March last year and international arrivals, except from New Zealand, spend two weeks in hotel quarantine at their own expense. (Reuters)