China’s coronavirus response under a microscope

Experts say Beijing’s ‘cordon sanitaire’ approach to preventing a pandemic could harm more than help

China is under increasing pressure to show that its disease control system is adequately coping with the outbreak of a deadly new coronavirus, as its confirmed cases rises above 4,000 and over 100 killed by the pneumonia-like disease.

Chinese officials have in recent days admitted shortcomings in their management of the outbreak, raising concerns of a possible global pandemic despite Beijing’s bests efforts to lockdown cities in Hubei province, including the reputed epicenter of the disease.

Zhou Xianwang, the mayor of Wuhan, a Chinese mega-city of 11 million people, even offered to resign on Monday after conceding that the city government’s disclosure of information had been “unsatisfactory.”

Despite a lack of reliable data about the still poorly understood coronavirus and a means of large-scale testing for it, officials in Wuhan had assured citizens that the virus was not widely transmissible after it was initially identified on January 10.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Pandemic fear dampens Chinese New Year cheer

With an incubation period of 14 days, coronavirus infections may be much higher than the over 1,300 reported

Fears of a global pandemic are rising as authorities in China struggle to contain the spread of a pneumonia-like illness with a travel lockdown widening to include a dozen cities in central China.

Fifteen new deaths were announced by health officials in Hubei province on January 25, the start of the Lunar New Year holiday, raising the death toll to 41. All but three of the victims of the newly identified coronavirus perished in Wuhan, the central Chinese city of 11 million at the epicenter of the outbreak.

Though more than 20 cases of the virus have been identified elsewhere in Asia and as far afield as Europe and the United States, fatalities have thus far been confined to China. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for the Wuhan coronavirus, though China has confirmed it can be transmitted through human contact.

The majority of fatal cases, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), are among the elderly with pre-existing chronic conditions that would increase their susceptibility to infectious diseases.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Malaysia in the middle of Israel-Palestine conflict

Malaysia opens its doors to renegade Israeli academic Ilan Pappé to promote Palestinian causes

In ordinary circumstances, Kuala Lumpur would be an unlikely place to find an Israeli historian. Malaysia and other Muslim-majority countries in Southeast Asia have long been steadfast in their support for the Palestinian cause and generally refuse entry for Israeli passport holders as part of a policy of diplomatic non-recognition of Israel. Ilan Pappé, however, is no ordinary Israeli historian.

The 65-year-old academic has published over 20 books on the history of the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in particular and has been labelled a “traitor” by some in his country for his opposition to Zionism, Israel’s national ideology and the explicitly Jewish character of the Israeli state it denotes.

“It is an ideology which believes that as much of Palestine as possible should be a Jewish state, and in it there should be as few Palestinians as possible, to put it simply,” said Pappé in an interview with Asia Times, relaying a central theme of his “Palestine Is Still The Issue” lecture delivered recently in the Malaysian capital.

During his visit, Pappé met privately with veteran politician Anwar Ibrahim, the man widely presumed to become Malaysia’s next prime minister. Anwar wrote afterwards in an Instagram post that Pappé’s books On Palestine (2005) and The Idea of Israel (2014) had “opened my eyes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Phase one fanfare masks phase two gloom

US-China ‘phase one’ agreement eases but doesn’t resolve core trade war differences

US President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu Hei signed a “phase one” trade agreement on January 15, sealing a deal that will begin to ease an 18-month-old trade war between the world’s two largest economies, one that has rattled supply chains, roiled financial markets and cast uncertainty over the global economy.

“With this signing, we mark more than just an agreement. We mark a sea change in international trade,” said Trump in remarks delivered at the White House. “Together, we are righting the wrongs of the past and delivering a future of economic justice and security for American workers, farmers and families.”

China’s vice premier remarked that the deal was “mutually beneficial” and demonstrated the ability of the two countries “to act on the basis of equality and mutual respect.” Liu added that he hoped “the US side will treat fairly Chinese companies and their regular trade and investment activities” in the spirit of healthier Sino-US ties.

In a rambling address peppered with references to domestic partisan politics – Democrats in the US House of Representatives voted to send impeachment charges to the Republican-controlled Senate as the phase one signing ceremony took place – Trump said negotiations for a more comprehensive “phase two” deal would begin in the near future.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Secret tapes put new spin on 1MDB scandal

Recordings appear to show Malaysia’s ex-premier Najib manipulating probes into state fund fraud but are likely inadmissible in court

Malaysia’s criminally charged ex-premier Najib Razak admitted he was “shocked” when anti-graft investigators last week released explosive audio recordings of private discussions he had with several prominent public personalities, the latest twist in the multibillion-dollar corruption scandal involving state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) recently made public nine recordings of telephone conversations taped between January and July 2016, which the agency claims constitute attempts by the then premier to manipulate investigations into 1MDB and conceal other fraudulent acts linked to the alleged mass pilfering of public funds.

While captivating the Malaysian public and setting social media ablaze with memes, the recent disclosures divided legal experts with some claiming the anti-corruption agency’s decision to publicly release the recordings constituted a breach of legal ethics, sparking debate about privacy rights and laws permitting surveillance in Malaysia.

The bombshell recordings, which MACC chief Latheefa Koya said were verified by forensics experts, were of separate telephone calls between Najib and his wife Rosmah Mansor, United Arab Emirates’ crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, and then-senior deputy public prosecutor Dzulkifli Ahmad.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

US-Iran climbdown gives markets cause for pause

Investors react positively to de-escalation but remain on guard for possible new energy market disruptions

Asian economies began 2020 with a brighter outlook and hopes for reversing fortunes amid a truce in last year’s bruising US-China trade war. But the shock killing of top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani by a US drone strike abruptly checked sentiment as markets weighed the new unforeseen risk of a possible US-Iran war.

Global markets and oil prices have whipsawed in recent days on Iran’s retaliatory strike against American military bases in Iraq and follow-up conciliatory statements from US President Donald Trump and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, signaling, at least for now, that the hostilities will not spiral into full-blown war.

Asian stock markets fell hardest on the US’s initial attack, while oil briefly surged above US$70 a barrel for the first time since the attack on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia last September.

But markets rallied and oil prices eased to around $65 per barrel when Trump claimed on Wednesday that Iran was “standing down” after no Americans were harmed in the targeting of US installations, and Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the strikes “concluded” Tehran’s response to Soleimani’s assassination.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

Limp economy enlivens Singapore election season

PM Lee Hsien Loong’s PAP expected to win 2020 snap polls despite the city-state’s shaky economic outlook

Singapore’s economy expanded at its slowest pace in a decade in 2019, a downturn that could have implications for the long-ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) at snap elections expected later this year.

The US-China trade war, weaker global and Chinese economic growth, and a cyclical downturn in the electronics sector rattled the city-state’s export-oriented economy last year. Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew just 0.7%, down sharply from 3.1% in 2018.

With an expansionary budget anticipated in February and a general election expected to be called within months, fourth quarter data points to a modest recovery in 2020 that will depend largely on an array of uncertain external factors.

“Despite the lackluster growth performance, the economy is slowly getting out of the woods,” said Irvin Seah, senior economist with DBS Bank in Singapore. “Barring any unforeseen negative shocks, growth momentum is expected to pick up gradually in the coming quarters.”

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.

E-scooter ban puts Singapore in a slow lane

New ‘zero-tolerance’ regulations on the popular vehicles will hit hard thriving food and other speedy delivery services

Beginning January 1, Singapore will enforce a “zero-tolerance” ban on the use of personal mobility devices (PMDs) such as electric scooters, or “e-scooters”, on pedestrian footpaths.

The urbanized city-state had been actively fine-tuning regulations on the usage and safety of the widely popular devices, but in a surprise policy U-turn ordered an immediate sidewalk ban on all e-scooters in November.

The move followed a spate of injuries and fatal accidents involving PMDs, as well as fires in public housing blocks caused by faulty e-scooter batteries. While pedestrians broadly welcomed the ban, it sparked a furor among food-delivery riders whose livelihoods depended on e-scooters, as well as retailers of the once-ubiquitous vehicles.

Since an “advisory period” on the use of e-scooters took effect on November 5, the devices have largely, though not entirely, disappeared from public footpaths. Touted as a game-changer for short-distance travel, PMDs were seen as a convenient solution to last-mile commutes between a person’s home and their nearest train or bus station.

Read the full story at Asia Times.

Nile Bowie is a journalist and correspondent with the Asia Times covering current affairs in Singapore and Malaysia. He can be reached at nilebowie@gmail.com.