Relief and confusion: inside China as the country hurtles from virus-free to mass infections

The easing of Covid restrictions over the past week has happened almost as quickly as the abrupt measures to lock down cities at the beginning of the pandemic. At first I was sceptical and thought the situation would only go back to how it was in the second half of 2020, when China stayed mostly clear of infections with only mild restrictions in place, even though the rest of the world was being bombarded by the virus. But almost immediately: we are no longer required to show our health code…

Vietnam carries out ‘substantial’ expansion in South China Sea, US thinktank finds

Vietnam has conducted a major expansion of dredging and landfill work at several of its South China Sea outposts in the second half of this year, signalling an intent to significantly fortify its claims in the disputed waterway. Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has said on Wednesday the work in the Spratly Islands, which are also claimed by China and others, had created roughly 170 hectares (420 acres) of new land and brought the total area Vietnam had reclaimed in the past decade to 220 hectares. Basing…

Biden Aims to Inject New Energy Into US Relations With African Nations

In the course of his interactions with African leaders, the president unveiled a series of initiatives, including an agreement meant to encourage the formation of a continentwide free-trade zone that has stalled over the last few years. He vowed to help African countries do more to transition to clean energy and plug into the digital economy, a contrast to China, which has focused much of its investment in Africa on building roads, bridges, airports and other physical infrastructure. Mr. Biden said in his keynote address that the goal was not…

HSBC raises prime rate to a 15-year high as Hong Kong warns borrowers to gird against risks in era of higher funding costs

HSBC, Bank of China (Hong Kong) and Hang Seng priced their best lending rate at 5.625 per cent per annum, while Standard Chartered and BEA’s rate increased to 5.875 per cent. HSBC and Hang Seng Bank’s rate increase is effective from Friday and the others from Monday. All five banks said they will increase their deposit rates by 25 basis points to 0.625 per cent per annum. “While the Fed slowed the pace of interest rate rises [in] December, global economic outlook remains uncertain and rates normalising is expected to…

INTERVIEW: ‘The Myanmar people are suffering, physically and mentally’

Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s ambassador to the United Nations, will continue to serve as his country’s permanent representative to the international body in New York for another year, a position he has held since 2020. The United Nations General Assembly Credentials Committee decided to uphold his status at a meeting on Monday, though a formal announcement has yet to be made.  Myanmar’s military junta, which seized power from the elected government in a February 2021 coup, opposes the move. Its information team said in a comment on the instant-messaging software…

Cambodians rally against Hun Sen in Belgium, demanding release of political prisoners

About 200 Cambodians living in Europe staged a protest Wednesday in Brussels to oppose Prime Minister Hun Sen’s participation in an EU-ASEAN summit, demanding justice for Cambodian opposition party activists who have been harassed, arrested and detained under the strongman. Hun Sen, who has ruled since 1985, was in the Belgian capital to co-chair the event. After exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy called for the protest, hundreds of Cambodians traveled there to hold a rally against the authoritarian leader. The demonstrators, who stood outside in below-freezing weather held banners and…

EU, ASEAN parliamentarians call for release of Southeast Asian rights activists

Parliamentarians from ASEAN and the European Union called for the immediate release of three Vietnamese, one Indonesian, and four Lao prisoners of conscience ahead of Wednesday’s Inaugural EU-ASEAN summit in Brussels. In an open letter addressing the summit, the five European and five Southeast Asian current and former parliamentarians recommended human rights cooperation between the two regional blocs and highlighted several ways that countries in ASEAN are not living up to international standards, particularly in ensuring the safety of human rights defenders. The letter requested that ASEAN take steps to…

10 years after his disappearance, no clue about what happened to Sombath Somphone

Ten years ago, Lao activist Sombath Somphone was stopped in his jeep at a police checkpoint outside the capital of Vientiane, forced into a white truck and driven away.  He has never been seen or heard from since. Though police promised to investigate the Dec. 15, 2012 disappearance that was captured on closed circuit video, authorities have never undertaken any credible technical examination of the footage. They have also refused outside help to analyze it. A decade later, the Lao government has remained silent about Sombath Somphone’s fate. His wife…

Will African Nations Get Debt Help from IMF and China?

Johannesburg, South Africa  —  Long-running tensions between the major international lenders and China were aired at a meeting in China’s Anhui province, where participants sought agreement on a way forward for some of the world’s most indebted countries, many of them in Africa. Representatives of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and Beijing’s finance ministry participated in the meeting to discuss debt restructuring for low-income countries — 60% of which the IMF says are at or near debt distress. The relationship between the IMF and China — the world’s largest…

US Wants to Counter China’s Moves in Africa, But Officials Try Not to Mention That

WASHINGTON — There is one word that American officials are trying to avoid saying as they meet with African counterparts during the U.S.-Africa leaders summit in Washington this week: China. President Biden and his aides do not want the nearly 50 African leaders attending the event to perceive that official U.S. interests on the continent are mainly driven by a desire to counter China, which has built enormous trade ties with African nations and is trying to grow its military and security presence in the region. Yet, in discussions on…