Hanoi’s Institute of Sino-Nom Studies says it has lost 25 books written in traditional Vietnamese Nom script, one of which is “relevant to Vietnam’s sovereign territory,” according to the deputy head of the literature department, Nguyen Xuan Dien. Posting on his Facebook page on Tuesday, a day after the institute’s annual meeting, Dien said the books were “extremely important for national culture.” The institute said Wednesday the books were among 35,000 volumes it had cataloged and preserved at the request of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences When it inspected…
Day: December 21, 2022
Taiwan mulls Panadol controls as mainland China’s Covid-19 surge sparks run on pain and fever drug
“We are closely monitoring the situation as well as the supply and demand conditions of the pharmaceutical market in Taiwan,” he said, after reporters pressed him on whether there would be any official action to control the sudden surge in demand. Wang Pi-sheng, head of Taiwan’s epidemic control command centre, said they had carried out a survey of pharmacies and found Panadol stocks were fast running out. Advertisement “There have been bulk purchases of Panadol resulting in shortages of supplies of the medicine in Taiwan. In view of this, we…
China ‘behind the curve’ in reporting Covid surge, WHO says
China may be struggling to keep a tally of Covid-19 infections as it experiences a big spike in cases, a senior World Health Organization official has said, amid concerns about a lack of data from the country. Official figures from China have become an unreliable guide after the country of 1.4 billion people this month began dismantling its unpopular zero-Covid lockdown and testing regime. The abrupt change caught a fragile health system unprepared, with hospitals scrambling for beds and blood, pharmacies for drugs and authorities racing to build special clinics.…
Australia’s lobster industry hopeful China will drop trade sanctions
Australia’s lobster industry is cautiously optimistic that China could soon remove trade restrictions, but exporters are wary of being “burned again” by sanctions and volatile diplomatic relations. Many businesses have been paying close attention to foreign affairs minister Penny Wong’s trip to China this week – the first by an Australian minister in three years – where she discussed “trade blockages” with her counterparts. At the height of a diplomatic rift in 2020, Beijing imposed a range of tariffs, bans and restrictions on Australian exports including wine, barley and lobsters,…
Some Chinese Citizens Say They Can’t Go Home Amid China’s Relaxed COVID Policy
Students from China make up more than 30% of the international students in the United States. But many of them are not returning home during the end-of-year break at a time when China has relaxed its strict zero-COVID policy. From Los Angeles, VOA’s Elizabeth Lee explains why. VOA
How Beijing’s circular economy policy is driving recycling in carbon-intensive sectors
A worker sorts plastic bottles for recycling on the outskirt of Beijing. The recycling of steel, aluminium, plastic and paper, four carbon-intensive commodities, is expected to contribute to a total reduction of 670 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions this year, Miotech says. Photo: AFP South China Morning Post
Disabled Boat With Dozens of Starving Rohingya Refugees Spotted off Indonesia
A Rohingya activist group reported Wednesday that a powerless boat carrying more than 150 Rohingya refugees has been located close to Aceh, Indonesia. Two days ago, the vessel was reported drifting in Indian waters around Andaman Islands without food and water. “The boat is no longer located in India’s SAR region but close to Aceh, in Malaysia’s SAR region,” Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, which works in support of Rohingyas and monitors the movement of the refugees around southeast Asia, told VOA. On December 16, the United Nations…
Indian Buddhist organization says no to Beijing-appointed Dalai Lama successor
An India-based Buddhist organization has declared that it would not support any Chinese-appointed successor to the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s foremost spiritual leader, and neither would the people of the Himalayan region. “If the government of the People’s Republic of China, for political ends, chooses a candidate for the Dalai Lama, the people of the Himalayas will never accept it, never pay devotional obeisance to such a political appointee and publicly denounce such a move by anyone,” the Indian Himalayan Council of the Nalanda Buddhist Tradition said in a resolution issued…
Thousands flee troop deployment near Chinese-run copper mine in Myanmar
More than 6,000 residents from nine villages near a Chinese-operated copper mine in northwestern Myanmar’s Sagaing region fled their homes as troops loyal to the ruling military junta entered their communities on Wednesday, locals said. The exodus occurred the same day as the United Nations Security Council called for the release of former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in its first-ever resolution on the political crisis in the country wracked by instability and violence since the military deposed her and other elected leaders in a February 2021 coup. The…
Cambodian court hears final arguments in Kem Sokha’s treason trial
A court in Cambodia on Wednesday heard closing arguments in the trial of opposition leader Kem Sokha, who faces unsubstantiated charges of treason. Kem Sokha was detained in 2017 after the Cambodia National Rescue Party, which had been the main opposition party at the time, made significant gains in local commune elections. He was placed under house arrest, but was released prior to the beginning of his trial which has dragged on for more than two years. In the final arguments on Wednesday, the prosecution recommended that the court reimpose…