Domestic Politics
On Tuesday, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam defended criticism levelled by Beijing agencies against Hong Kong’s opposition lawmakers. The city’s leader vehemently dismissed the pan-democrats’ claims that the central government is interfering in the city’s affairs. Days earlier, Beijing’s liaison office in Hong Kong, lambasted the opposition for holding up 14 bills and more than 80 subsidiary pieces of legislation, and accused them of creating instability in the city. [SCMP]
With strict safety measures in place, South Koreans will go to the polls on Wednesday, April 15 to elect 300 parliamentary lawmakers. [The Straits Times]
Despite the continuing coronavirus pandemic, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Education said that university entrance exams will go ahead as planned from next Friday. [SCMP]
International relations
A top US general, Mark Milley, said that evidence that the coronavirus originated from a Chinese research lab is “inconclusive”, following a report that US officials warned of safety concerns at a research facility in Wuhan two years ago. [SCMP]
On Tuesday, the French foreign ministry said that it had summoned the Chinese ambassador to protest a string of controversial comments on the coronavirus by Beijing’s embassy in Paris. Comments on the Chinese embassy’s website, which in part suggested that Western countries had left their pensioners to die in nursing homes, were retorted by the French foreign minister, who stated that the comments were “not in line with the quality of the bilateral relationship between our two countries”. [Reuters]
Japan earmarked US$2.2 billion of its record economic stimulus package to help its manufacturers shift production out of China as the coronavirus disrupts supply chains between the major trading partners. [Bloomberg]
Health
On Tuesday, China has confirmed that it has approved early-stage human tests for two experimental vaccines to combat the coronavirus. The vaccines are being developed by a Beijing-based unit of Nasdaq-listed Sinovac Biotech and the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, an affiliate of state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group. [The Straits Times]
On Wednesday, the Wuhan Leishenshan (Thunder God Mountain) Hospital ceased operations in Wuhan. The makeshift hospital, which was famously built in ten days, had a closing ceremony as the batch of patients were transferred to regular hospitals. [The Straits Times]
Society
While complaints have grown about Chinese people living in the West being blamed for the spread of the “Chinese virus”, tens of thousands of Africans living in mainland China say they are now being singled out and harrassed. There have been reports of brawls between Africans and police and health inspectors in Guangzhou. Last week, Nigeria’s consul-general in Guangzhou rescued three Nigerian nationals after Chinese police and paramedics tried to confiscate their passports and bundle them into an ambulance. [Asia Times]
Image Source: Al Jazeera
East Asia in Review: April 15, 2020
Read more about the latest events in East Asia.
April 15, 2020
