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May
New Zealand wants a mature relationship with China, foreign minister says
Written by Nur Yasmin
New Zealand wants a more mature relationship with China that goes beyond trade ties and gives room for disagreement, particularly on issues of human rights, the Pacific nation's foreign minister said on Friday.
Nanaia Mahuta's comments come after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said this week that differences with its top trading partner were getting harder to reconcile, and the country's parliament unanimously declared human rights abuses were taking place against Uyghur people in China's Xinjiang region, angering Beijing. read more
"It's important for us to ensure we are respectful, consistent and predictable in the way we convey issues we agree on, but also on issues we don't agree on. And it's part of our maturing relationship," Mahuta said in an interview with Reuters.
New Zealand has major trade ties to China and has long been touted by Beijing as a model of its relations with Western countries.
But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's government, which won a second term in office in October, has criticized China over the issue of Uyghurs, the human rights violations in Hong Kong and backed Taiwan’s participation at the World Health Organization despite a warning from Beijing.
Mahuta and Ardern have said they are focused on an independent foreign policy that is not loyal to any major bloc, a position that's popular domestically and followed by previous Labour Party-led governments including the nine-year administration until 2008 of Helen Clark.
Mahuta said last month that she was uncomfortable expanding the role of the Five Eyes, a post-war intelligence grouping that also includes the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada.
China has accused the Five Eyes of ganging up by issuing statements on Hong Kong and the treatment of Uyghurs.
Mahuta's comments were questioned by New Zealand's Western allies who asked if the Pacific nation feared criticising Beijing on its human rights records.
Mahuta said she stood by her comments.
"It (Five Eyes) doesn't have to be the first port of call all the time on every issue in the human rights space," Mahuta said.
"And I have consistently said that it's important that we build a broader base of support for the issues on the human rights front."
Foreign policy commentators, however, say the mixed messaging is confusing.
"There is clearly a need for a coherent foreign policy line coming out from New Zealand," said Anna Powles, senior lecturer at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University.
"This doesn't help our allies and partners. It's about our relationship with our closest ally, which is Australia, and our strategic partnerships," she said.
A diplomatic dispute between China and Australia worsened in 2020 after Canberra lobbied for an international inquiry into the source of the coronavirus pandemic.
This has not affected China's ties with New Zealand, however, as both nations upgraded a free trade agreement in January.
Mahuta, the first indigenous Maori woman to hold the post, was a surprise pick last year as foreign minister.
In her first six months in office, the 50-year-old has talked about a values based approach and bringing New Zealand's bi-culturalism to the centre of foreign policy.
"If there's anything new that I'm bringing to this picture it's a values based approach, which is drawing from our bi-cultural values...as we continue our strong bilateral and multilateral relationships across the region and the world." (Reuters)
May
Gandhi warns 'explosive' COVID wave threatens India and the world
Written by Nur Yasmin
India's main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi warned on Friday that unless the deadly second COVID-19 wave sweeping the country was brought under control it would decimate India as well as threaten the rest of the world.
In a letter, Gandhi implored Prime Minister Narendra Modi to prepare for another national lockdown, accelerate a country-wide vaccination programme and scientifically track the virus and its mutations.
Gandhi said the world's second-most populous nation had a responsibility in "a globalised and interconnected world" to stop the "explosive" growth of COVID-19 within its borders.
"India is home to one out of every six human beings on the planet. The pandemic has demonstrated that our size, genetic diversity and complexity make India fertile ground for the virus to rapidly mutate, transforming itself into a more contagious and more dangerous form," wrote Gandhi.
"Allowing the uncontrollable spread of the virus in our country will be devastating not only for our people but also for the rest of the world."
India's highly infectious COVID-19 variant B.1.617 has already spread to other countries such as Britain, forcing nations to cut or restrict movements from India.
In the past week, India has reported an extra 1.5 million new infections and record daily death tolls as its hospitals run out of beds and medical oxygen. Since the start of the pandemic, it has reported 21.49 million cases and 234,083 deaths. It currently has 3.6 million active cases.
Modi has been widely criticised for not acting sooner to suppress the second wave, after religious festivals and political rallies drew tens of thousands of people in recent weeks and became "super spreader" events.
His government has also been criticised for lifting social restrictions too soon following the first wave and for delays in the country's vaccination programme, which medical experts say is India's only hope of controlling the second COVID-19 wave.
While India is the world's biggest vaccine maker, it is struggling to produce and distribute enough doses to stem the wave of COVID-19.
Modi has stressed that Indian states must keep up vaccination rates. Although the country has administered at least 157 million vaccine doses, its rate of inoculation has fallen sharply in recent days.
"After having achieved a rate of around 4 million a day, we are now down to 2.5 million per day due to vaccine shortages," Amartya Lahiri, an economics professor at University of British Columbia was quoted as saying in the Mint newspaper.
"The 5 million a day target is the lower bound of what we have to aim for, since even at that rate, it will take a year for us to get everyone two doses. The situation unfortunately is very grim."
RECORD INFECTIONS
India reported another record daily rise in coronavirus cases, 414,188, on Friday, bringing total new cases for the week to 1.57 million. Deaths from COVID-19 rose by 3,915 to 234,083.
Medical experts say the real extent of COVID-19 in India is five to 10 times the official tallies.
India's healthcare system is crumbling under the weight of patients, with hospitals running out of beds and medical oxygen. Morgues and crematoriums can not handle the number of dead and makeshift funeral pyres burn in parks and carparks.
Prominent U.S. disease modeller Chris Murray, from the University of Washington, said the sheer magnitude of infections in India in a short period of time suggests an "escape variant" may be overpowering any prior immunity from natural infections.
Infections are now spreading from overcrowded cities to remote rural villages that are home to nearly 70% of the 1.3 billion population.
Although northern and western India bear the brunt of the disease, southern India now seems to be turning into the new epicentre. The share of the five southern states in the country's daily surge in infections rose from 28% to 33% in the first seven days of May, data shows.
In the southern city of Chennai, only one in a hundred oxygen supported beds and two in a hundred beds in intensive care units (ICUs) were vacant on Thursday, from a vacancy rate of over 20% each two weeks ago, government data showed.
In India's tech capital Bengaluru, also in the south, only 23 of the 590 beds in ICUs were vacant, and only 1 in 50 beds with a ventilator were vacant, a situation officials say points to an impending crisis.
The test-positivity rate — the percentage of people tested who are found to have the disease — in the city of 12.5 million has tripled to almost 39% as of Wednesday, from about 13% two weeks ago, data showed.
Bengaluru has 325,000 active COVID-19 cases, with demand for ICU and high-dependency unit (HDU) beds up more than 20 fold, said H. M. Prasanna, president of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association in Karnataka state, which includes Bengaluru.
"Every patient coming to the hospital needs a ICU or a HDU bed...that is why patients are running from one hospital to another searching for an ICU bed," he said.
"There is also short supply of medical oxygen...Most of the small hospitals now who can't procure oxygen on a daily basis are refusing to admit COVID patients." (Reuters)
May
Australia to reopen door to India, no new local COVID-19 cases in Sydney
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia will lift a ban on its citizens returning from COVID-ravaged India in a week, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, as state officials reported that an outbreak in Sydney appeared to be contained.
Morrison stood by his decision to impose a biosecurity order last month barring all travel to and from India, a policy that drew heavy criticism from lawmakers, expatriates and the Indian diaspora.
Morrison said the travel ban, which was controversially backed by jail terms and financial penalties for anybody who attempted to circumvent it by flying via a third country, had prevented Australia’s hotel quarantine system from being overwhelmed.
"The order that we have put in place has been highly effective, it’s doing the job that we needed it to do, and that was to ensure that we could do everything we can to prevent a third wave of COVID-19 here in Australia,” Morrison told reporters.
Australia will charter three repatriation flights between May 15 and May 31, with some 900 people deemed most vulnerable are expected to be prioritised, Morrison said.
Prospective travellers will need to return a negative COVID-19 test, he said, adding that officials had not yet decided when commercial flights to and from India would be allowed to resume.
New South Wales state Premier Gladys Berejiklian, meanwhile, said New Zealand's decision to partially suspend a travel bubble with Australia as a result of new infections in Sydney was an "overreaction."
State health officials were still trying to track the missing links in the case of a 50-year-old man who was diagnosed earlier this week with an Indian variant of COVID-19 that he passed on to his wife.
Genomic sequencing had linked the case to a returned traveller from the United States, but there was no clear transmission path between the two people.
However, state health officials reported on Friday that more than 13,000 tests conducted over the past 24 hours had found no additional cases, easing concerns about a wider outbreak.
Berejiklian on Thursday imposed new social distancing restrictions in greater Sydney, including mask wearing on public transport and limits on home gatherings.
With many people expected to gather over the weekend for annual Mother's Day celebrations, the restrictions are scheduled to remain in place until Monday morning.
“We may never find that missing link,” Berejiklian told the Nine Network "Today" show about the Sydney case, the first in NSW in more than a month.
“That’s why we ask everybody to come forward and get tested. Every time there’s a positive case, we can match it to see if it’s part of the same strain.” (Reuters)
May
Japan may approve AstraZeneca, Moderna vaccines as early as May 20 -Nikkei
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan's government may approve the use of coronavirus vaccines developed by AstraZeneca PLC (AZN.L) and Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) as early as May 20, the Nikkei reported on Friday.
Health ministry officials plan to hold a meeting around that date to discuss approval, the financial daily reported.
The only vaccine for the novel coronavirus to have received Japanese approval so far is that developed by Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE).
Approvals for other vaccines are widely expected to come later this month, though no specific dates have been announced.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged to have enough vaccine doses for the country's 126 million people by June, before the July 23 start of the Tokyo Olympic Games. (Reuters)
May
Pentagon chief says removal of all contractors from Afghanistan under way
Written by Nur Yasmin
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday the process of removing all contractors from Afghanistan working with the United States was under way as part of President Joe Biden's withdrawal of forces from the country.
The remarks are the clearest indication yet that Biden's April order to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by Sept. 11 extended to U.S.-funded contractors.
Asked whether the Pentagon had issued orders to withdraw not just American troops but also contractors, Austin said: "We're going to responsibly retrograde all of our capabilities that we are responsible for and the contractors fall in that realm as well."
Speaking with reporters, Austin said the contractors could, however, renegotiate their contracts in the future.
As of April, there were nearly 17,000 Pentagon contractors, including about 6,150 Americans, 4,300 Afghans and 6,400 from other countries.
The departure of thousands of contractors, especially those serving the Afghan security forces, has raised concerns among some U.S. officials about the ability of the Afghan government and military to sustain critical functions.
'NOT A FOREGONE CONCLUSION'
Austin said the drawdown was going according to plan so far.
But Afghan security forces are locked in daily combat with the Taliban, which has waged war to overthrow the foreign-backed government since it was ousted from power in Kabul in 2001.
In just two days, the Taliban captured a second district in the northern province of Baghlan on Thursday.
The Afghan government says the Taliban have killed and wounded more than 50 troops in attacks in at least 26 provinces during the last 24 hours, while its forces killed dozens of Taliban over the same period.
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, said there had been sustained levels of violent attacks against Afghan security forces but none against U.S. and coalition forces since May 1.
Milley, in the same news conference, said it was too early to speculate on how Afghanistan would turn out after the withdrawal of U.S. forces given that Afghanistan had a significantly sized military and police force and the Afghan government was still cohesive.
"It is not a foregone conclusion, in my professional military estimate, that the Taliban automatically win and Kabul falls or any of those dire predictions," Milley said. (Reuters)
May
Australia says international borders might not fully reopen until mid-to-late 2022
Written by Nur YasminAustralia's international borders might not fully reopen until the middle or second half of 2022, Trade Minister Dan Tehan said on Friday, in a blow to airlines and the tourism sector.
Asked in a Sky News interview when borders might open, Tehan said "the best guess would be in the middle to the second half of next year, but as we've seen throughout this pandemic things can change."
Tehan said he hoped more travel bubbles could be opened similar to the one between Australia and New Zealand. (Reuters)
May
China suspends economic dialogue with Australia as relations curdle
Written by Nur Yasmin
China "indefinitely" suspended on Thursday all activity under a China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue, its state economic planner said, the latest setback for strained relations between the two countries.
"Recently, some Australian Commonwealth Government officials launched a series of measures to disrupt the normal exchanges and cooperation between China and Australia out of Cold War mindset and ideological discrimination," China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a short statement on the decision.
The commission did not say in the statement what specific measures prompted the action.
China's foreign ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, told a daily conference the suspension was a "necessary and legitimate" response to Australia "abusing" the concept of national security to pressure cooperation with China.
"Australia must bear full responsibility," he said.
The Australian dollar fell sharply on the news and was as low as 0.7701 to the U.S. dollar from Wednesday's $0.7747.
Bilateral ties were strained in 2018 when Australia became the first country to publicly ban Chinese tech giant Huawei from its 5G network. Relations worsened last year when Australia called for an independent investigation into the origins of the novel coronavirus, prompting trade reprisals from China.
Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan said the commission's decision was disappointing because the economic dialogue was "an important forum for Australia and China to work through issues relevant to our economic partnership".
"We remain open to holding the dialogue and engaging at the ministerial level," he said in a statement.
The last meeting was in Beijing in 2017, when Australia's trade minister signed an agreement on cooperation on Belt and Road projects in third-party countries.
Australia has, however, declined to sign agreements on direct participation in China's flagship foreign policy initiative.
In April, Canberra cancelled two Belt and Road cooperation deals struck by the state of Victoria, prompting the Chinese embassy to warn that ties were bound to worsen.
Australia's federal parliament granted veto power over foreign deals by states in December amid the deepening diplomatic dispute with China, which has imposed a series of trade sanctions on Australian exports ranging from wine to coal.
Successive Australian trade ministers have been unable to secure a phone call with Chinese counterparts since diplomatic tensions worsened in 2020.
In the 12 months to March, Australia exported A$149 billion ($115 billion) worth of goods to China, excluding services, of which iron ore was by far the largest product.
Experts expect the bilateral strains would not have a major impact on the iron ore trade, but could have an impact on Chinese investment in Australia.
"We believe the iron ore trading relationship between Australia and China will remain ring-fenced in relation to current political tensions between the two nations," said Atilla Widnell, managing director at Singapore-based Navigate Commodities Ptd Ltd.
"This is a co-dependent relationship whereby either party cannot survive without the other."
Executives of mining giant Rio Tinto said the tension between Australia and China was not hurting their business.
"We sell more than half of our products into China and we have a good relationship and we are unaffected," Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm told reporters after the company's annual meeting in Perth.
Rio Tinto Chairman Simon Thompson said: "Specifically in relation to iron ore, at the moment there are relatively few alternatives available to China."
But the dispute will continue to have an impact on Australia's commodities sector by discouraging Chinese investment and it indicated that effective bans on Australian imports are set to continue, said Yanting Zhou, senior economist at Wood Mackenzie.
China has effectively banned imports of Australian thermal coal. Since December, copper concentrate imports to China have also slumped.
"We estimate that the volume impacted is around one million tonnes per annum of copper concentrate, which is looking for homes in other Asia-Pacific smelters," said Gillian Moncur, also at Wood Mackenzie.
Matt Bekier, CEO of No.2 Australian casino operator Star Entertainment Group Ltd (SGR.AX), which relied on Chinese tourists until Australia closed its borders due to the pandemic, told the Macquarie Australia Conference he was unconcerned about China's suspension of the Strategic Economic Dialogue.
"I'm probably a bit more optimistic that people will do what they'll do. That's not to say that (there won't be) a number of months of challenges in the government relations," he said. (Reuters)
May
Mystery Australian COVID case spurs return of masks, travel bans
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australian officials reinstated social distancing measures in Sydney as New Zealand partially suspended the pair's "travel bubble" on Thursday, amid fears an Indian variant case of COVID-19 could spur a significant outbreak.
The swift action was taken a day after a 50-year-old man became the first reported local transmission case in New South Wales state in more than a month, with the source of his infection baffling health officials.
Further testing determined the man was infected with a variant first detected in India and genomic sequencing had linked the case to a returned traveller from the United States, NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said on Thursday, but there was no clear transmission path between the two people.
"We can't find any direct link between our case, so what we're concerned about is there is another person that is as yet unidentified that infected our case," Chant said.
New Zealand's minister for COVID-19 response, Chris Hipkins, said his country was halting quarantine-free travel to and from New South Wales while authorities investigated.
"With several outstanding unknowns in the situation in Sydney it is safest to pause the QFT (quarantine-free travel agreement)," Hipkins said in a statement.
The so-called "travel bubble" between Australia and New Zealand opened less than a month ago. The NSW suspension comes into effect at midnight.
The case of the unidentified Sydney man, who passed the virus on to his wife, appeared to be the first time officials had reported the local transmission of an India virus variant in Australia.
Tests on the infected man had showed a higher viral load than typically seen in infected people, potentially increasing the chance that the man has spread the disease, officials said.
With many people expected to gather over the weekend for annual Mother's Day celebrations, the NSW state government restricted household gatherings to 20 guests and limited aged care facility visitors to two people per resident.
Masks will be mandatory on public transport and at indoor venues. All the restrictions, which cover around 5.3 million people in the country's biggest metropolitan area, take effect at 5 p.m. local time and are scheduled to last until Monday morning.
"We believe this is a proportionate response to the risk we have ahead of us," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters.
The measures will also cover Sydney's neighbouring regions of Wollongong, the Central Coast and Blue Mountains.
NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet entered self-isolation on Thursday after he visited a restaurant at the same time as the infected person, classifying him as a close contact, his office said. Perrottet, who attended a sitting of state parliament on Wednesday, has tested negative.
Authorities also asked thousands of residents in the city's inner west to seek testing for any mild flu symptoms after fragments of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 were detected in the sewerage network used by several suburbs.
Separately, health authorities reported five new cases of blood clots in people who had received the AstraZeneca (AZN.L) COVID-19 vaccine, the inoculation being used for the majority of the country's population over the age of 50.
Australia has now recorded 11 blood clot cases after administering 1.4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
INDIA BAN
Speedy tracing systems, movement curbs and border restrictions have largely reined in the spread of COVID-19 in Australia, which has recorded 29,865 cases and 910 deaths since the pandemic began.
The federal government is currently under some pressure to overturn a temporary travel ban on travellers, including its own citizens, from COVID-ravaged India. Australia has blocked all direct flights from the country until May 15.
A report in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper on Thursday, citing unidentified sources, said at least two repatriation flights will be dispatched to India every week from the middle of this month to bring home around 9,000 Australians.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison, however, said the situation would be constantly reviewed.
"We are not going to commit to that at this point," Morrison told radio station 3AW on Thursday. (Reuters)
May
Thailand says foreigners to get COVID-19 vaccines amid access concern
Written by Nur Yasmin
Thailand confirmed on Thursday that it plans to include 3 million foreigners living in the country in its mass vaccination programme to protect the entire population, amid concerns over the scope of vaccine access.
"Anybody living in Thailand, whether they be Thai or foreign, if they want they vaccine, they can get it," head of the disease control department, Opas Kankawinpong told a briefing.
"No one is safe until everyone is safe," he added.
The government has repeatedly said foreigners would be offered vaccines.
But concerns among expatriates have been raised in recent weeks, with some venting frustrations on social media about a lack of public information, problems registering or confusion over private vaccine availability.
Thailand needs to immunise about 50 million people to achieve herd immunity of about 70% of the population, based on estimates of 67 million Thais and 3 million foreign residents, he said.
The country has yet to start its mass immunisation programme but has administered vaccines to mostly frontline workers from its stock of 2.5 million doses of Sinovac (SVA.O) vaccines.
Its main source of vaccines will be a local manufacturer set to produce AstraZeneca's (AZN.L) vaccines after June.
Anxiety over vaccines has risen as Thailand as it deals with its biggest outbreak so far, with more than two-thirds of its 336 fatalities recorded in the past month alone.
New daily infections have been stable at around 2,000 since mid-April. There were 1,911 new coronavirus cases and 18 deaths announced on Thursday.
The health ministry is working on other ways to include non-Thais in the vaccination programme, including via mobile applications or direct contact from hospitals, according to the foreign ministry. (Reuters)
May
Cambodia ends blanket COVID-19 lockdown despite more infections
Written by Nur YasminCambodia ended on Thursday a blanket coronavirus lockdown in Phnom Penh after three weeks, as busy traffic returned to some streets of the capital, though authorities retained tighter curbs in some districts where infections have surged.
The Southeast Asian nation has recorded one of the world's smallest COVID-19 caseloads, but infections have climbed from about 500 in late February to 17,621 now, with 114 deaths. Authorities recorded 650 new cases and 4 deaths on Thursday.
While health experts have warned about lifting curbs too quickly, the lockdown had triggered anger from some residents who called the distribution of food aid inadequate.
Authorities removed barricades on Wednesday night in "yellow" zones designated as safe for mobility, while "red" and "orange" zones with higher infection rates will remain under lockdown until May 12.
"I request that people should not be negligent, because we are living under a new way of life in the context of COVID-19," Phnom Penh's deputy governor Mean Chanyada told a news conference.
Yellow zones would see greater economic activity and traffic flows, but remain under a curfew from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m, he said.
As Phnom Penh opens up, authorities have also introduced new measures, such as only permitting 50 percent of workers in factories to return and with the priority on those vaccinated.
Other measure include more COVID-19 testing, higher vaccinations in parts of Phnom Penh with higher infection rates and a ban on alcohol sales.
The World Health Organization's (WHO) representative in Cambodia, Li Ailan, warned on Sunday against easing curbs too soon.
"Relaxing #COVID19 measures too fast and too soon means a possible surge," she said in a message on Twitter. (Reuters)